Why Ed?
by Bethany2
Summary: *UPDATE! After almost ten years, I have finally completed this story* -Rafe and Alison have to deal with their sixteen year old son and his problems-
1. Please Stop the Fighting

*Note: Takes place about 11 years after my last story. Ed just turned 16 and Rafe and Alison's other child, Makala, is 11. This story focuses a lot on Ed's problems and Rafe and Alison trying to deal with him*  
  
*Another note: I plan on putting a lot of thought into this story. I kind of rushed my other ones, lol. The updates won't be very frequent, so please be patient. And as always, reviews are appreciated =)*  
  
It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in the middle of June and the Kovich's were eating breakfast outside on their deck. It had been a very good month so far. Rafe was named the co-editor of the Port Charles Newspaper and Alison had just taken a new job at another nearby bank as the vice president. Ed and Makala were off school now until after Labor Day, and their report cards were due any day in the mail. And it was Ed's 16th birthday. The plans were to take Ed to get his driver's license and then they were going to take a subway to New York City to see a Yankees game, which happened to be Ed's favorite baseball team.  
  
"Hey dumb brain, scoot over. There's no room for me," whined Makala, using her favorite nickname for her brother.  
  
"Oh shut up and deal with it," Ed said, rolling his eyes.  
  
Alison groaned as they continued to bicker. She couldn't even think of a time since Ed entered high school where they weren't fighting over something.  
  
"Hey stop it! Your dad went to get some more orange juice and if he comes back here and hears you two arguing again, you know he'll yell."  
  
"But mom, he won't move over!"  
  
"Oh give me a break! I moved over, but little miss 'I get everything I want because I'll cry and scream if I don't' wasn't happy with the space I gave her."  
  
"I don't act like that moron!"  
  
"My ass you don't!"  
"That's enough!" Makala and Ed jumped as they heard the deep voice of their dad, who had just gotten back. "You two do nothing but fight 24/7 and your mother and I are getting sick of hearing it! Ed, you know better than to swear, especially around your sister. Being sixteen does not make you an adult yet. Apologize to each other, right now." Rafe folded his arms to let them know that he meant business.  
  
"But dad, he wouldn't move," Makala whined  
  
"I don't care who did what, just apologize, please." Rafe looked up at the sky and sighed. He wished they would just get along for once.  
  
"Fine. Sorry Ed," Makala said, making a face at her brother when her parents weren't looking.  
  
"Yeah, sorry Makala," Ed said, making a face back at his sister.  
  
Alison smiled at her husband and then looked back at her kids. "That's better."  
  
"Mom, dad, do you mind if I go over to Angie's house for a little bit?" Angie was Ricky and Casey's daughter and they lived right around the corner.  
  
Alison looked over at Rafe who shrugged. "I don't have a problem with it. Just be home by 2 so we can take Ed for his driving test. Then straight from there we're catching the subway."  
  
"Ok. Bye!"  
  
"Bye sweetheart, be careful."  
  
The cordless phone in the kitchen started ringing, so Alison ran inside to answer it. "Hello."  
  
"Is Ed there?"  
  
"Yes, may I ask who's calling please?"  
  
"It's Dan."  
  
"Oh hey Danny! I almost didn't recognize your voice. How are you and your parents doing? We haven't seen them in a couple of weeks.  
  
On the other end Dan made a face at the mention of the name 'Danny'. The only other person who called him that now was his mom. He hated being called that now, but decided to hold off on reminding Alison. She and Rafe were his parents' best friends after all. "We're great, thanks. How are you?"  
  
"Just fine. I'll go get Ed for you." Alison stuck her head out to the deck and said, "Sweetie, Danny's on the phone for you."  
  
Ed got up to take the phone from his mom and went further inside the house for some privacy.  
  
Alison sighed and sunk down in a chair next to Rafe. "Those two kids of ours are something else, aren't they?"  
  
"Yeah they sure are. Well at least we know where Makala's snobby attitude came from. Takes after her mom at that age I guess."  
  
Alison picked up the newspaper and swatted him with it, making Rafe flinch and laugh. "Sorry angel. You know I'm just joking with you."  
  
Alison stuck her tongue out at him and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I still can't believe that after 16 years of marriage, you're still calling me by that nickname. And look at us! We still act like silly teenagers that are in love, and we're nearing 40."  
  
"Well you are an angel you know. My angel, and you always will be. No matter how old we get. I love you." He gave her a tender kiss on her forehead.  
  
"Oh Rafe, I love you too. Always."  
  
"Forever," Rafe whispered as he pulled her into a sweet and enduring kiss. It lasted quite a while and probably would have lasted longer if they weren't interrupted by the sound of Ed clearing his throat. Rafe and Alison laughed. They knew Ed was used to them being like this.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt your sweet but rather nauseating moment, but I have a question."  
  
"Shoot."  
  
"Can I go with Dan to see a concert tomorrow night? It's at the amphitheater about 15 minutes from here."  
  
Rafe sighed. "I don't know about that. I know a lot of drinking and stuff goes on at those concerts. You know how your mom and I feel about that."  
  
"Yeah I know dad, but come on. You know me better than that. I don't hang around with that crowd."  
  
Rafe still wasn't sure. "Yes, but I still don't want you involved with that kind of stuff."  
  
"Sweetheart, excuse us for a minute. I'm going to have a talk with your dad," Alison said, pulling Rafe away.  
  
"Listen Rafe, I know you're concerned about the drinking thing, but get with the times. Ed has already encountered that kind of stuff, seeing that it most likely goes on during high school football games. But you know he's smart enough. We taught him well. He knows not to drink. And besides, Makala is sleeping over at Angie's house tomorrow. That would give us the whole house to ourselves from six until at least midnight. And you know how long it's been since we've had time alone," Alison pleaded with him, giving him her most irresistible look.  
  
Rafe smiled and Alison knew she had him. "Alright fine. But he's calling as soon as he gets to the concert and right before he leaves"  
  
Rafe walked back over to Ed. "Ok, you can go to the concert, but here are the rules. Dan is driving since he's had his license for a few months and you don't even know if you're getting yours until after 2 today. You are to call as soon as you get there and right before you leave. I want you home right after the concert is over. And you know the drinking and drugs rule. Got it?"  
  
"Yes sir," Ed joked, giving his dad a mock military salute. "And I was planning on just crashing at Dan's place after the concert, so I'll call from there."  
  
"Ok, no problem."  
  
The rest of the afternoon went great. Ed passed his driving test with no problems, and they all had a great time at the Yankees game. The next day was full of the sound of argument again.  
  
"You stupid jerk! You ruined my shirt," Makala cried to her brother, who had just accidentally spilled juice all over her shirt.  
  
"I didn't mean to, it was an accident. Here, let me help you." He got a wet rag and started trying to get the stain washed out.  
  
"Don't bother! I know you're not sorry. You don't even like me!" Makala pulled away from her brother and had tears streaming down her face.  
  
"Well if you would stop acting like a little baby, maybe I would appreciate you more."  
  
"I do not act like a baby!" She pushed her brother.  
  
"Yeah you do!" He pushed her back and ended up making her fall to the floor. She fell down and started crying more. "I hate you! Mom, dad, Ed pushed me down!" Makala yelled upstairs.  
  
Rafe and Alison came into the living room quickly. "What is your problem? You don't treat your sister like that!" Rafe yelled at Ed while Alison tried to soothe their crying daughter. "Shh, it's ok baby. You're alright. Ed didn't mean to push you down, isn't that right?" Alison asked, looking into Ed's eyes with a fierce look.  
  
Ed groaned. His little sister was always getting her way and he was tired of it, but he knew he had better say something or he wouldn't be able to go anywhere tonight. "Yeah I didn't. I'm sorry Makala."  
  
She wiped the tears off her face. "It's ok."  
  
Rafe gave his daughter a hug. "You ok sweetie?" She nodded. "Alright, go upstairs and pack your things. It's almost time to go over Angie's house." She ran upstairs without a second look back to her brother.  
  
Alison sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to her, indicating for Ed to sit next to her. "Ok, we need to have a talk. I was going to wait until after your concert, but apparently we need to talk now. What has gotten into you? You have treated your sister like crap for the past week. Now I know you two have never gotten along, but it seems to be getting worse. She is 11 years old, and she's supposed to be able to look up to her big brother. But you're a bad example. You yell back at her instead of telling her to calm down, and then today you pushed her."  
  
"Look mom, she pushed me too."  
  
Rafe held up his hand. "Save it. That doesn't make it right for you to push her back. This isn't the only thing we're concerned about."  
  
Alison grabbed an envelope off of the coffee table and handed it to Ed. "We got your report card today. You got a D in Biology. And it wasn't because you were having problems. Your teacher wrote a note saying that you never did your homework. You have always been a good student, Ed. I don't understand what's going on here. It's like you became a completely different person this year or something."  
  
Rafe nodded. "Yeah your mom's right. Now you know we have to have a serious talk about this and set some rules. We will have to ground you. But we will talk after your concert. You can still go, but I don't want you staying over Dan's house. Come right home afterwards."  
  
"Ok. Thanks dad. And I'm sorry. I really am."  
  
Rafe and Alison both nodded. "You know we both love you Ed. That's why we're concerned about you, ok sweetheart? Go ahead and get ready. Danny will be here any minute now." Alison kissed her son and Rafe gave him a friendly slap on the back. After he went upstairs, Alison looked at Rafe with a concerned look. "Rafe, this is really scaring me. Ed has never been a problem before, but now all of a sudden this happens."  
  
"I know angel. But you knew he wouldn't be perfect forever. It would have to happen sometime."  
  
"Yeah. I think all parents have the same wish: for their kids to be perfect. Of course it never happens though."  
  
Makala soon left to go to Angie's and Ed left with Dan to go to the concert. As soon as they were gone, Alison jumped into Rafe's arms, making him laugh. "Do you realize the last time we had the house to ourselves?"  
  
Rafe smiled at her as he carried her into their bedroom. "Yeah it has been quite some time, huh?" He laid her on the bed and unbuttoned her pants and shirt and then took off his own clothes. Alison wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a sweet kiss. He kissed her while gently running his hands along her lower back. "You're so beautiful," he whispered in her ear as he nibbled the edge of it.  
  
Alison giggled and whispered back, "And you're so handsome." She gave him another kiss before pulling him on top of her and then she reached over and switched on the radio. "Just to add some atmosphere," she said. They made love with the sweet melody of a love song filling the air.  
  
"Wow," Alison sighed when they were done. "That was great."  
  
Rafe smiled and massaged her neck. "Yeah but, isn't it always?"  
  
"That's true. Oh Rafe! I forgot to tell you the other day. Guess what Makala was talking about after you left for work the other morning."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Derek, a boy in her class at school. Can you believe it? Our little girl has her first crush! Isn't that cute?"  
  
"How about that. And I'm sure Derek likes her too, seeing that she has her mother's beautiful looks and all."  
  
"Oh Rafe," Alison said, blushing.  
  
Ed and Makala both took after their parents. Ed had Rafe's golden brown hair and Makala had her mother's blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. Oddly enough their personalities seemed to match their parents too.  
  
"It's nearing midnight. We've been in here since 7!" Rafe exclaimed, looking over at the clock.  
  
"Oh wow, are you serious?" Alison looked over at the clock too and couldn't believe that they spent that much time in the bedroom. A few seconds later the phone rang as they were putting their clothes back on.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Hi, Alison? It's Eve."  
  
"Hey Eve. What's going on?"  
  
"Well I understand that Danny was supposed to go to a concert tonight with Ed. I just picked Dan up. Apparently they went to a party and drank instead."  
  
Alison groaned. "Oh great. Well, what's the address?"  
  
"1100 Woods Drive."  
  
Alison grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and wrote down the address. "Ok. Thank you so much for calling, Eve."  
  
"No problem. Call me soon, ok Alison? We have a lot to catch up on."  
  
"Of course I will. Bye hon. Take care."  
  
"You too. Night."  
  
Alison slammed the phone down and tried holding back tears. "That was Eve. Danny and Ed went to a party over on Woods Drive."  
  
"Please don't tell me he was drinking," Rafe said, folding his arms across his chest the way he did everytime he got angry.  
  
"Ok, I won't," Alison said, trying to liven up the mood a little.  
  
"Damnit!" Rafe cursed as he punched the bed in frustration. "After everything we've taught him. And he even said to me earlier that he didn't hang out with the party crowd."  
  
"I'm sorry. This is all my fault." Alison started sobbing. "I convinced you to let him go to the concert. I was the one who told you not to worry about it, that he would encounter drinking anywhere he went and that he wouldn't do that. I'm so sorry. I'm a horrible mother"  
  
"No! Don't you ever say that. You're the best mother, and that's the truth. It's not your fault that Ed went to that party. It's his fault. We're going to have to have a serious talk with him. And ground him until he's 40." The last comment made Alison laugh.  
  
"There's that smile I love. Now listen, don't ever say that again, ok? You're the most loving mother that I know. Neither of us could have stopped this from happening. So, let's go get Ed. We'll talk with him about everything in the morning when we're calm."  
  
Alison grabbed a tissue and wiped off her tears. Then she gave Rafe a kiss. "How come you always know the right thing to say?"  
  
"Because I'm smart. Ready?"  
  
She linked her arm in his and sighed. "Ready as I'll ever be." 


	2. Trouble

"I can't believe you Ed!" Rafe yelled at his son as soon as they got into the living room of their house. He at first wanted to wait until morning, but the anger was just boiling inside of him.  
  
"Dad, I can explain..." Ed started but then Rafe interrupted.  
  
"What the hell is there to explain? You lied to us! You told your mother and I that you were going to a concert with Dan, but I guess the plan was to pretend to go to a concert and sneak off to some party. I don't know what's gotten into you Ed. First it's the grades, now you're lying and getting drunk, and for all I know, you could be doing drugs too. Damnit, haven't we taught you anything?!"  
  
"Dad, I'm not drunk."  
  
Rafe raised his eyebrows. "Yes that may be the case. But I wasn't born yesterday. I know you at least had a drink or two."  
  
Ed looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry..."  
  
"Don't bother apologizing! You know better than to drink!"  
  
"Rafe, please calm down. We can talk about this in a calm, rational manner," Alison said, trying to calm her husband down.  
  
Rafe glared at his wife and shouted, "No I will not calm down! Don't you care that our son is out partying, doing things he shouldn't be doing? He's sixteen years old, not 21. Open up your pretty blue eyes for once! And even when you are 21, that still doesn't mean you can go and get drunk," He said, directing the last sentence at Ed.  
  
Alison jumped from the surprise of being snapped at by Rafe. "Of course I care. He's our son. I just don't think this is the way to handle it. Don't get me wrong though, Ed. I'm not too thrilled about your actions lately, young man," Alison said, giving Ed a stern look. "But we will handle this in the morning when we all can get some sleep. It's almost 1. So go on to upstairs to bed."  
Ed sighed and then walked upstairs. "Goodnight."  
  
Rafe looked his son in the eye and said, "'Night."  
  
"Sweet dreams," Alison said, giving Ed a peck on the cheek. As soon as Ed was gone, Rafe walked over to Alison and put his arms around her waist.  
  
"Angel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. But we really need to let him know the rules."  
  
Alison gave him a weak smile. "I know that. I just think that talking things over with him, not yelling at him, and letting him tell us what's going on in his life will make things easier on all of us. Maybe he's feeling neglected, and that's why he's acting like this, so that he can get attention from us."  
  
"He shouldn't feel neglected. He knows how much we love him."  
  
"Well Rafe, I don't know what else it could be. We taught him all about that stuff, so why else would he be doing it?"  
  
"He must be hanging around with more than just Dan and the guys from his baseball team."  
  
Alison groaned as she thought of something. "I hate to bring up this ugly subject, but I think I know who he may be hanging out with."  
  
They both looked at each other, and a second later they both said at the same time, "Trina Ramsey." Trina Ramsey was Livvie Locke and Jack Ramsey's daughter. She was the same age as Ed, and hung around with a lot of the partying crowd. She was well known around town for the hard core rave's she always threw whenever one of her parents went out of town. She split time between her mom and dad, since they weren't married. Livvie, in a desperate attempt to find someone to love, spiked Jack's drink and got him to sleep with her 16 years ago. Trina was the result. She not only looked like Livvie, but pretty much had the same personality and played the same manipulating games as well.  
  
"I saw them talking when I went to pick up Ed on his last day of school," Alison said. "Then I really didn't think anything of it, but now I think it's making sense."  
  
Rafe nodded. "And I heard him tell Dan one night on the phone that he thought Trina was 'one hot babe' but of course I ignored it."  
  
"Rafe, you don't think they're.."  
"Sleeping together?" Rafe finished Alison's thought. "There's no way in hell that Ed is getting involved with her. That girl takes after her mother in more ways than one, and I will not have my son go down the same road that I did."  
  
Alison frowned as she remembered everything that Livvie put them through. "Yes, I know. If worse comes to worse, we will have a talk with Livvie and Trina. But I'm hoping that it won't have to come to that. Maybe Ed doesn't hang around her."  
  
Rafe sighed. "Let's hope so. Come on, let's get to bed. I'm beyond exhausted." He took Alison's hand and kissed it and then they both went to their bedroom.  
  
Ten minutes after his parents went to sleep, Ed carefully and quietly went downstairs to use the phone. He wanted to call Dan to make sure he was ok and everything, but he didn't want to call this late since Dan didn't have a cell phone. He then decided to call Trina's cell phone.  
  
"Hey babe," he said when she picked up.  
  
"Hey sexy. What's up?"  
  
"Not much. My parents are pretty ticked off, more my dad than my mom though. I know they're going to ground me in the morning."  
  
"Aw that's too bad. I guess that means I won't be seeing you for a while."  
  
Ed smiled on the other end of the phone. "Don't you worry about a thing. I got a plan."  
  
"Oh really? And what would that be?" Trina asked, with a definite note of flirting in her voice.  
  
"Come on over here. My parents are in bed. You can bring some of your mom's vodka bottles and we can have a blast."  
  
"Sure baby. I'll be right over."  
  
"See ya in a few sexy," Ed said with a smile as he hung up the phone.  
  
Trina snuck quietly up the ladder that Ed had put up to his window in his bedroom. Since his bedroom was upstairs and his parents' was downstairs, he had an advantage. They immediately began drinking the bottles of liquor that Trina had brought over, and were soon drunk. They were acting silly and laughing repeatedly over everything.  
  
"Did I ever tell you how incredibly hot I think you are?" Trina whispered in Ed's ear.  
  
"Did I ever tell you how incredibly sexy I think you are?" Ed whispered back as he pulled Trina into a kiss. They were quickly taking off each other's clothes.  
  
"I've wanted this for so long," Trina said in between kissing him.  
  
"Me too. So much." He took her hand and led her over to his bed. They made love, and seemed to have forgotten that Ed didn't bother to put on a condom. Neither of them cared though because all they wanted in that moment was each other.  
  
Up in heaven, the older Ed sighed as he thought of his grandson. He was just digging himself deeper and deeper into trouble. And as much as Rafe and Alison loved him and as good of parents as they were, nothing they could do would stop Ed from doing the things he was doing. That boy was one rebellious teenager!  
  
"Mia!" Ed called out to a younger angel that was around his grandson's age.  
  
"Yes Ed?" Mia came in, smiling the same bright and bubbly smile that she always did.  
  
"I have an assignment for you. An earth assignment to be exact."  
  
"Oh yay!" Mia exclaimed, jumping around in celebration. She loved earth assignments.  
  
Ed laughed. "Calm down. Here's what is going on. My grandson, who happens to be named after me, is having some problems and it's going to get much worse than it is if something isn't done. So you're going to go down there and befriend him, and get him out of trouble."  
  
"But what about your son and his wife? Aren't they handling him?"  
  
"Well, they're the best parents I know, but unfortunately nothing they do or say will stop my grandson. That's just the way he is nowadays."  
  
"What exactly is going on?"  
  
"Here, take a look." Ed got out the earth monitor and let Mia watch what was happening in Ed's life. "And this is what will happen if you don't go down there." He showed her a glimpse into the future.  
  
Mia was surprised. "I better get down there fast!"  
  
Ed put his hands on her shoulders in a caring gesture. "Please be careful, Mia. This is my grandson."  
  
"Oh I will, Ed. I promise. He's in good hands."  
  
"And watch out for my granddaughter Makala too, as well as Rafe and Alison."  
  
"You can count on it," Mia said, smiling.  
  
"Well, like I said, be careful, and you know the rules!"  
  
"Yes dad," Mia joked.  
  
Ed laughed. "Goodbye Mia."  
  
"Goodbye boss!" Mia said as Ed snapped his fingers to transport her to earth. He hoped that once again good would win over evil and his grandson and everyone else in Port Charles would be safe from harm. 


	3. The Truth Comes Out

*A special thank you to April, who gave me some ideas for chapter 3 and 4. Also thanks to the rest of you for the reviews. Keep them coming! =) *  
  
"Ed! Time to get up. Your mother and I want to have a talk with you!" Rafe yelled, banging on his son's door.  
  
Ed moaned and rolled over to look at the clock. It was only 6:30, and he didn't get to sleep until 3. "Why so early dad?"  
  
"Because your mother and I have leave for work in an hour. So let's get moving!"  
  
"Alright, alright. I'll be down in like 2 minutes." Ed rolled over to get out of bed and then accidentally hit something. It was then that he remembered something.  
  
"Oh man! Trina! You have to get up now," Ed said, shaking her.  
  
Trina sat up quickly and looked around. "Oh god, my dad is going to kill me!" she exclaimed, quickly gathering her clothes from the floor and putting them back on. "He told me that he was going to pick me up at my mom's house real early this morning so we could spend the day together. I have to go or I'll get there after he does."  
  
Ed tried not to panic. "Well you can't go out the front door. And I put that ladder back in the garage so my parents wouldn't suspect anything. Just hide in my closet until my parents go to work."  
  
"Ok."  
  
No one knew about Trina and Ed's secret relationship, not even their best friends. They both agreed it would be better not to tell anyone because of the risks involved. Although Ed didn't know the whole story concerning Rafe, Alison, and Livvie, he knew Livvie was his parents' bitter enemy. Having a relationship with Livvie's daughter wouldn't be a very wise choice in their eyes, especially since Trina was exactly like her mom in Rafe and Alison's opinion. But Ed was the only person who saw a different side of Trina. She may have a manipulative mind like Livvie's, but she also had a gentle and caring heart.  
  
"Listen Trina, you know I love you. And I want to eventually tell my parents about us. You know that. But now's not the time. Especially since I'm about to get grounded."  
  
Trina sighed and gave Ed a kiss. "I know. I love you too. Don't worry about it, ok? Just go downstairs and talk with your parents and I'll leave when they leave. We'll talk later." She was about to go hide in the closet when she heard someone come upstairs.  
  
"Ed?" Alison called out to her son, knocking on the door. "What's going on in there? Open up right now and come downstairs." Trina quickly ran in the closet and Ed opened the door.  
  
"Sorry mom. I was just getting dressed."  
  
Alison looked around his room and spotted Trina's leather purse. "What's this, Edward?" Ed cringed. Neither of his parents ever used his full name so she must be really mad.  
  
Ed tried to explain. "Oh, that's just..um.."  
  
Before he had a chance to come up with an explanation, Alison walked over to Ed's closet and opened the door to find Trina. "Hi Mrs. Kovich," Trina said, trying to sound friendly.  
  
Alison sighed. "Hello Trina. What are you doing in my son's closet?"  
  
"Yeah, I'd kind of like to know myself." Rafe had just come upstairs.  
  
"Well you see Mr. and Mrs. Kovich, Ed and I.."  
  
"Trina, do you mind if you go home now? I'm sure your mom or dad will be worried if they wake up and find that you're not in your bedroom," Alison said, interrupting her.  
  
Trina nodded. "Bye Ed. Bye Mr. and Mrs. Kovich." She grabbed her purse and left the room without another glance back at them.  
  
"I think it's time I told you guys the truth." Ed walked over to his parents and looked them straight in the eye. "The truth, mom and dad, is that Trina and I have been seeing each other for a while now. We love each other. I know you don't like her mom or her for that matter. But you don't know the other part of her. The part that's kind and loving."  
  
"Listen Ed," Rafe said, putting his hands on his son's shoulders. "You know we love you and we want you to be happy. But you know and we know what Trina does. She is nothing but trouble, and we don't want you involved with drinking and drugs."  
  
"So what, are you forbidding us to see each other?"  
  
"Sweetheart I know you love Trina. But you have to face the facts. You obviously know what she's into since you've been hanging out with her. Which brings me to what your dad and I have to say."  
  
Rafe sighed and said, "You, young man, are grounded. You are to go nowhere without your mom or me, and no one is coming over here for a month. We will let you use the phone, but not for a very long period of time. Is all this understood?"  
  
"You are forbidding me to see Trina," Ed said, getting angry.  
  
"Sweetheart.." Alison started, trying to give Ed a comforting hug.  
  
"No, don't bother." Ed backed away from his mom and dad. "I will not listen to either of you! You can't ground me. I'm not a child anymore!"  
  
"Yes you are still a child, Ed. You're only 16 years old! So until you're 18, you must listen to our rules."  
  
"I don't have to do anything. Screw this!" Ed grabbed his wallet and started throwing clothes into his big duffle bag.  
  
"Ed, what are you doing?" Alison asked, clearly confused by her son's behavior.  
  
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm leaving. You can't stop me from seeing Trina. No one can."  
  
"Ed, please calm down. Think about what you're doing here." Rafe tried to reason with his son.  
  
"I have thought about it. I'm leaving. So goodbye, and have a nice life."  
  
"Please wait!" Alison begged, tears streaming down her face. "We love you, Ed. We are just doing what we know is best for you."  
  
"Love?" Ed laughed sarcastically. "Yeah right, when hell freezes over. You both love Makala more than me, and that's a fact. You do nothing but defend her every time she comes crying to you. You guys don't seem to care that even though she's 11, she still acts like she's 5. So screw this family! I've had it." Ed picked up his duffle bag and wallet and slammed the door behind him. He grabbed the keys of his parents other car and sped out of the driveway. 


	4. Thank God for Angels

Alison started sobbing. "Rafe, do something. Go after him please!"  
  
Rafe grabbed Alison in an attempt to calm her down. "Angel, I know you're upset. I am too. But you know right where he's headed. He's going to go find Trina and they're going to run off together."  
  
"So what are we going to do, huh? Just let him run away? Are we going to let our only son just go off and never see us again?" Alison screamed and started crying harder.  
  
"Alison, listen to me! Please, you have to calm down while you listen to my plan."  
  
"Plan? What plan? You're the one who said he's going to run off with Trina."  
  
"Yes. But we are going to find him. So here's what we're going to do. First we're going to call off of work for the day so we can find him. Second, we're going to go get Makala at Angie's, let her know what's going on, and she can come with us if she wants."  
  
Alison calmed down a little and got a tissue to wipe off her wet face. "I probably look horrible now, don't I?"  
  
"You could never look horrible. You'll always be my beautiful angel."  
  
Alison smiled and reached up to touch her husband's face. "You always know what to say."  
  
"It's my job. Alright, let's get going." They called and explained to their bosses about their situation and then went to see Makala. Naturally she was worried about her brother, so she decided to tag along.  
  
"Is this my fault?" Makala asked, scared and still a little confused about what was going on.  
  
"No honey, it's not at all," Rafe said, reaching back to give his daughter an affectionate pat when he was stopped at a red light. "Ed is just a little troubled right now, that's all. It has nothing to do with you."  
  
The light turned green and Rafe started to go, but suddenly he was hit head on by a car on the other side of the intersection that had a red light. The car flipped several times before stopping. Rafe, who wasn't hurt by the sudden collision, looked over at his wife and back at his daughter to see if they were ok. "Makala, Alison, can you hear me? Answer me!"  
  
"Dad," Makala moaned from the backseat.  
  
"Don't worry honey. I'll get some help! Are you ok?"  
  
"Yeah I'm fine Dad. At least I think so. Are you ok? Is mom ok?"  
  
"I'm ok honey, but I don't know about mom right now."  
  
"Oh my god, Mr. Kovich! Makala! Mrs. Kovich!" Trina screamed. Ed, who was driving the car, soon  
  
"Get some help!" Rafe screamed when he couldn't find his cell phone. Trina quickly pulled out her cell phone to call 911 while Ed just stood there, shocked.  
  
"Alison, can you hear me? Baby, please answer me!" Rafe reached over to check her pulse and to see if she was breathing.  
  
"Help is on the way Mr. Kovich!" Trina said, coming back.  
  
Rafe panicked when he couldn't find Alison's pulse. "Angel come on! Please God, help me," he pleaded.  
  
"Dad, I'm sorry.." Ed started.  
  
"I can't believe you would be so irresponsible! Ed, what were you thinking running that red light?"  
  
Not wanting to hear what else his dad had to say, Ed ran off. The paramedics soon arrived and immediately hooked Alison up to some oxygen and put her in the ambulance. They took Makala and Rafe as well just to make sure.  
  
As soon as they got to the hospital, Alison was brought to surgery. She had a lot of internal bleeding and other complications from the accident and they had to fix it fast. Rafe and Makala were checked out and they were fine. They waited in the waiting room by the surgery room.  
  
Ian came out. "Rafe, I need to speak with you." He pulled Rafe aside so that Makala wouldn't hear. "Ok here's what's happening. Alison lost a lot of blood, both internally and externally. We've done all we can, but it's up to fate now. She may have brain damage. Her chances are very slim. I'm sorry."  
  
"No, there must be something else you can do. Some other doctor or something."  
  
"I'm sorry Rafe, I wish I could do something or someone else could, but even the best doctor in the world would tell you the same thing."  
  
"No. No this can't be happening!" Rafe started to break down and cry. Ian tried to comfort him but Rafe shrugged him off. He was too upset to deal with anyone right now. Ian decided to leave him alone and went back in to where Alison was.  
  
"Please, if there was anytime I really needed you, it's now Dad." Rafe pleaded, looking up to talk to Ed. "I can't lose her now. Please you have to help. I can't live without her." Rafe started sobbing. He had to try and calm down or else he would never be able to tell Makala. And he would have to call Alison's mother and grandmother.  
  
Meanwhile, in the surgery room, Ian, Karen, and some nurses kept a close watch over Alison to see if she was making any progress.  
  
"I almost can't do this," Ian said, throwing his gloves down in frustration. "Alison is like a part of my family."  
  
"I know Ian, but you have to focus on your job right now."  
  
As Karen continued to try and calm Ian down, a white light surrounded the room. A girl with long, wavy red hair and green eyes stood over Alison. She wasn't seen by Ian, Karen, or the nurses. She put her hand on Alison's heart and soon Alison's eyes fluttered open. "There you go. Don't worry. It's not your time yet."  
  
"Who are you?" Alison whispered.  
  
"My name's Mia." Satisfied with what she had done, Mia made it so Alison would not remember her, and disappeared.  
  
"Rafe? Makala?" Alison's voice traveled out over the room, barely even a whisper.  
  
"Oh my god!" Karen exclaimed, running over to Alison.  
  
"I don't believe it," Ian said, going over to check her.  
  
"Do you know who you are?" Karen asked, making sure Alison didn't have amnesia.  
  
"Of course. Alison Kovich. And you're Karen and Ian. Where are Rafe and Makala?"  
  
"They're fine. They're waiting outside. Ian, why don't you go tell them the good news?"  
  
Ian went over to Rafe, who was still sobbing. "Good news. Alison woke up and is asking for you and Makala. But for now, just go in and see her and let Makala wait out here. Alison can only handle one visitor at a time."  
  
"Oh thank God!" Rafe exclaimed, rushing in to see Alison. He gave her a long and enduring kiss. "I thought I lost you. I was so scared."  
  
Alison gave him a weak smile and whispered in a raspy voice, "You can't get rid of me that easily."  
  
Rafe gave her another kiss. "I love you so much."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
Meanwhile, Ed was hiding out in the park. He couldn't believe what he had done and he wasn't sure if he ever wanted to face his parents, or anyone else for that matter, ever again. As he was about to do something terrible, he noticed that someone was watching him.  
  
"Who are you? And what do you want?"  
  
The person stepped out into the light. "My name's Mia. I'm new around this part of town, but I know all about you."  
  
"How?" Ed was confused.  
  
Mia smiled. "I have my ways. All you need to know is that I'm going to help you."  
  
"Help me? I don't need any help. So just leave me alone." Ed tried running off but Mia caught up with him.  
  
"Not so fast. You're going to stay right here and listen to what I have to say." 


	5. New Friends, Old Memories

Ed stared at the girl in front of him. She was pretty, no doubt, with eyes that were as green as the grass in the summer and beautiful long red hair. It was very unusual that Ed noticed the features of other girls nowadays. He was so in love with Trina that other girls might as well be invisible to him.  
  
"Who the hell do you think you are anyway, just appearing out of nowhere and claiming to know all about me?" Ed asked, almost yelling.  
  
"Look, I know that I don't know all about you. I mean, that would be impossible right? I'd have to be God or something, or at least someone like that." Mia mentally cursed herself for that last comment. She'd have to be careful or else everything would slip out, and the whole plan would be ruined. "I just happen to be someone who wants to help you, that's all."  
  
Ed laughed. "Well you're right. You don't know anything about me."  
  
"I know your name is Ed. Your parents are Rafe and Alison Kovich. You have a younger sister Makala. Your parents have been happily married for 16 years. And, I also happen to know that you're secretly going out with Trina Ramsey. But you better watch out. Apparently that's not so much of a secret anymore."  
  
Ed's eyes widened. "Ok, now this is the part where you tell me how in the world you knew all of that. And who exactly did you hear the last part from?"  
  
"My family just moved here from..." Mia had to think of a location quickly. She knew that she couldn't reveal where she really was from. Too much of a risk involved. "Hawaii. Honolulu to be exact. And I know all about you because I made friends with a girl that goes to your high school. I can't reveal my source, but she knows all about the little thing going on with you and Trina."  
  
Ed nodded. "Probably one of her friends. Hawaii huh? Can you surf?"  
  
Mia laughed. "No! That's the one hawaiian tradition that I skipped out on."  
  
"I see. So, why did you move here? Man let me tell you if I lived in Hawaii, I'd stay there. I'd be at the beach everyday catching the waves."  
  
Mia again had to come up with another story. Next time she'll have to think a little more ahead if she's going to ever have another earth assignment again! "My mom was a teacher out there, and they had to lay off a lot of teachers, so she had to look for another teaching job. And she just happened to find one here."  
  
"Oh ok. Hey listen, I'm sorry for being difficult. I realize now that you just wanted to make a new friend. Things have been difficult lately. For starters, I just hit my parents' car and I was really afraid of what would happen, so I kind of left the scene."  
  
"That's not good at all! You need to go to the hospital, pronto. Not only do your parents need you right now, but you probably are in serious trouble with the police now for leaving the scene of an accident."  
  
Ed sighed. "Alright. I'll go only if you go with me."  
  
Mia smiled. "Absolutely. Anything for my new friend."  
  
Ed smiled back at her and took a hold of her hand as they went to get a cab to take them to the hospital. As soon as they got there, they were greeted by Trina.  
  
"Ed, baby, I was worried about you!" She put her arms around his neck and gave him a short but sweet kiss. "When you left, I didn't know what to think. I know you were upset, but you have nothing to be upset about. Your mom, dad, and sister are just fine."  
  
"Oh thank God!" Ed said, saying a silent prayer in thanks that everyone was ok.  
  
Trina noticed Mia standing there. "And what are you doing with her?"  
  
"Oh! Trina, this is Mia. Mia, this is Trina."  
  
"Oh yeah I know exactly who she is. Mia Embers. This little slut is trying to get in with my crowd and thinks she's all that. Well guess what, you ain't. So just go and leave my man alone. This is private."  
  
"Whoa, wait a minute here. Mia helped me out. She found me in the park and.." Ed tried to explain what happened, but Trina cut him off.  
  
"Don't defend her! She was trying to hit on you and turn you against me so she could have you all to herself. News flash honey, he's mine. So go screw someone else's man or something. And don't even think about showing your face around me or Ed again. Am I clear?"  
  
"Crystal," Mia said, turning to leave.  
  
"Mia, wait," Ed said, putting a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"No it's ok. I understand where she's coming from. I better go." Mia walked out of the hospital as fast as she could. This was just great! How was she supposed to help him now, with his overprotective girlfriend around?  
  
"Some answers would be really helpful right about now!" Mia screamed towards the sky as soon as she was away from the hospital, and most important, not near anyone. The only response she got was a quick rumble of thunder. "Oh that's just fine. Thanks a lot Ed! You know he's your grandson. All I'm asking for is a little help. Is that so much to ask for?!" A second later Mia found herself back in heaven.  
  
"Hey, what's the big idea?" Mia wanted to know what was going on.  
  
"I'll tell you what the big idea is dear girl," Ed said in his tone he used to use when Rafe was an angel and having problems like this. "You know your assignment, and yet you're screwing it up. Big time. Mia this is not some game. You're not in high school where its drama 24/7 and everyone is turned against each other. I don't care how you do it, but you will find some way to make amends with Trina so that you can hang out with my grandson and help him. Because let me tell you, if this is going to happen every time you try and help him, you might as well forget it and come back up here. You'll be sending him down a road where he will surely regret going."  
  
"But Ed.."  
  
"No but's Mia. Get back there and fix this, now!" He snapped his fingers and she was quickly back on earth.  
  
Mia kicked a rock in frustration. There was no way she could make up with Trina. No way! Trina barely knew her, and yet she hated her guts already. Not the best way to get started with the girlfriend of the guy you're supposed to be saving. She looked up at the hospital and sighed. Guess she better get started.  
  
"Quick, we need to get her hooked up to some oxygen and fast!" Mia looked over at the ER doors and saw paramedics wheeling in a young girl.  
  
"What happened?" asked the doctor who greeted the paramedics at the door.  
  
"We're not sure. All we know is someone found her in an alley, badly beaten up. We think it could be a possible rape." The conversation drowned out as they wheeled the girl into the hospital. Mia had to find a bench and sit down because she suddenly felt overwhelmed. Memories poured into her mind.  
  
*Flashback*:  
  
"That was definitely the most boring day I've had at work all year!" Mia complained to her friend Laura as they shut off the lights and locked the doors of the bookstore they both worked at.  
  
"I know! I swear if I had to say 'Would you like to receive an additional 15 % off of your purchases by getting a credit card with us' one more time, I was going to quit. No questions asked!" Laura said, laughing.  
  
Mia checked her pockets and gasped. "Oh no!"  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I must have dropped my car keys in the store. Damnit! Who knows where they are, with the store being so big and with all the walking around and stocking the shelved I did today."  
  
"Here, let's open it back up." Laura got the keys and opened the door to the store. "You check the back, and I'll check the front and we'll meet somewhere in the middle unless we find them first. Just yell if you find them and I'll do the same."  
  
"Good idea. Thanks Laura."  
  
"Anytime."  
  
Mia walked to the back and began her search. She prayed that she would find the keys. Her parents would probably have a fit if she had to get new keys made.  
  
"Mia, what was that?"  
  
"What was what?"  
  
"I thought I heard a creaking noise."  
  
"It was probably just the floor. Don't worry."  
  
"No I don't think it was the floor. Maybe I should come back there with you and we'll just search together instead of apart."  
  
"Laura, you worry too much. It was just the floor."  
  
"Alright. Well I'm going to put the radio on, just so we'll have some background noise."  
  
"Ok, good idea."  
  
As the girls searched, the stopped suddenly when they heard a special announcement come on the radio.  
  
"This just in from the news room. A man identified as Nicholas Thompson has escaped from the state jail. He was serving a life sentence for the murder of his girlfriend. Police say that he has dyed blonde hair and blue eyes and is about 6'2" with a very muscular build and a tattoo of a cross on his right arm. They warn that he is very dangerous if he comes in contact with anyone. If you know anything, please contact the police."  
  
"Oh man!" Laura said, running to the back of the store with Mia. "Ok I'm just going to search with you."  
  
"Oh will you relax. If the guy was smart, he got out of town. No way would he be stupid enough to stay here."  
  
"True. But I'm still staying back here with you."  
  
"Alright, if it will make you feel better."  
  
The girls heard another noise, this time coming from the back entrance to the store.  
  
"See? I told you!" Laura said, jumping around in nervousness.  
  
"Ok listen. I'm going to go see what that was. You stay here and hold this." Mia handed Laura the store's cordless phone. "All you have to do is quickly dial 911 is there's a problem. Just dial, you won't even need to say anything. They have the monitors that tell them who's calling and from where."  
  
Laura was hesitant at the idea of being left alone, even for a second, but she gave in. "Ok. But hurry!"  
  
Mia went to the back entrance as quickly as she could without making too much noise in case there was something wrong. She peered out the curtains of the small window and saw a raccoon going through a garbage can.  
  
"Laura, no need to worry! It was just a silly raccoon going through.." Mia stopped mid-sentence when she saw that Laura was lying on the ground and ran straight to her. There was a book next to her. "Laura! Are you ok?" She grabbed the cordless the phone and started to dial 911 but the phone was quickly taken out of her hand. She came face to face with a tall man wearing a ski mask. It suddenly dawned on Mia that Laura had been hit over the head with the book by this man. And this man was probably the killer that was on the loose!  
  
"Help!" Mia screamed as loud as she could, hoping that someone would hear her. She ran as far as the front of the store and threw a hard covered book at the window. The window shattered and set the alarm off, but the man quickly caught up with Mia and threw her to the ground.  
  
"The police may get here, but not in time to save you, sweetheart," The man said in a raspy voice as he pulled out a knife.  
  
*End of flashback*  
  
Mia snapped back to the present. She couldn't think about that. She had to focus on what was going on now. With a long sigh, she walked into the hospital and hoped that she could help Ed. If not, nothing would ever be the same again. 


	6. A Little Lovin

*In case anyone is wondering, Lucy is still married to Kevin in my story (he didn't go crazy, lol) and Eve is still alive and married to Ian*  
  
Alison was released from the hospital after a few days. She was ordered by Ian and Karen to get plenty of rest for the next few days and not to get up except to use the restroom. Rafe took off work for a few days so he could take care of Alison.  
  
Ed's driving privileges were taken away from him by the court. He was not to drive anywhere in the next three months, except to his job and back. Ed recently got a job at the local grocery store.  
  
"Ed, I hope you realize that what you did was dangerous. You could killed your mother, as well as Trina and yourself," Rafe said while he was preparing Alison's breakfast, not bothering to look up.  
  
"I know dad, I'm sorry. I just..."  
  
Rafe sighed. "Never mind. It's too late to be sorry now. What's done is done. You work from 8-4 today, correct?" Ed nodded. "Well you better get going then or you'll be late. We expect you home at 4:15."  
  
Ed grabbed his uniform and keys and walked quickly out the door. He knew he had disappointed both his parents, especially his dad, and there was nothing he could do about it now. As he was about to get into his car, he spotted Trina walking down the street with Greg, a guy they both frequently hung out with.  
  
"Hey guys!" Ed shouted, walking down to the sidewalk so he could greet them. They didn't respond, so he was about to say something again when he saw something disturbing. Greg affectionately ran his hands through Trina's hair and then they started kissing. Ed ran up and tapped Trina on the shoulder.  
  
"Ed, baby. Listen, Greg and I..."  
  
"I know what Greg and you were doing. I'm not blind! How could you do this to me?"  
  
"Hey I'm going to go and leave you two to work this out," Greg said, turning around and walking the other way.  
  
"Ed, I love you. But Greg and I, we have a special connection. A connection you and I would never be able to share."  
  
"Connection? We lost our virginity to each other, Trina! I don't know what connection you think we don't have."  
  
"I know baby. And I'll never forget it. But Greg and I are going out now."  
  
"You know, you could have at least had the damn decency to tell me! Did you think you were just going to sneak around and go out with us both? Is that it?"  
  
"No, not at all."  
  
"Then what were you going to do? God Trina! I thought you loved me."  
  
"I do. And I always will. You were my first."  
  
"You have a funny way of showing it! Is that your idea of love? Going out with another guy while the other one still thinks he's going out with you?"  
  
"Ed, baby. I'm so sorry. I hope we can be still be friends." Trina tried kissing his cheek but Ed turned away.  
  
"Go to hell!" Ed yelled with tears in his eyes as he ran back to his car, jumped in, and went to work. At least he had 8 hours to busy himself and not think about Trina.  
  
Back at home, Rafe put the finishing touches on Alison's breakfast. He made her favorite: french toast topped with blueberries and a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream. He carried it into her room on a tray.  
  
"My favorite! Oh Rafe, thank you so much," Alison said with excitement.  
  
"Anytime angel."  
  
"I heard you talking with Ed earlier. He already feels bad enough, Rafe. Don't be too hard on him."  
  
"Too hard? Alison! He has been totally irresponsible lately. I'll be damned if I'm just going to let my son run around town and do whatever he pleases!"  
  
"That's not what I'm saying. I think he just needs to know we love him, because otherwise he'll just keep doing things just to get attention."  
  
Rafe groaned. "I don't want to argue with you while you're recuperating. But he knows we love him."  
  
Makala walked in just as Alison finished her breakfast. "Hi mom. How are you feeling? I brought you some herbal tea."  
  
"Oh thank you sweetheart. You didn't have to make me tea!"  
  
Makala smiled, pleased by the fact that her mom was grateful. "I know, but I felt like it."  
  
"Well thank you again." Alison reached up to give her daughter a hug.  
  
"Oh yeah, aunt Lucy called last night on our voicemail. Ed must have been online. She said she was just reminding us about Kevin's surprise party next week. She said if you were still not feeling up to it, then maybe they could wait another week. Ian and Eve are taking care of the food, and she asked if she could hide some presents over here."  
  
"Sure. I almost forgot about that. Good thing she called. I'll call her in a little bit," Rafe said, getting up to take Alison's plates into the kitchen.  
  
Before he walked out of the room, Makala spoke up and said, "By the way, I was wondering if I could go to the movies with Angie and Jackie? We're going to see the Lizzie McGuire movie."  
  
"I don't care," Alison said, getting a tissue.  
  
"Hold on," Rafe said, setting Alison's plates back down. "You're not going anywhere today. You need to stay here and help out your mother."  
  
"Rafe, its fine. Let her go. I've got you."  
  
"She needs to help out. She hasn't done anything since you got home."  
  
Makala sighed heavily. "But dad, I promise I'll help out when I get home from the movies. I'll help you cook dinner."  
  
"You're staying here. End of discussion. Wash these dishes please." Rafe handed her the plates.  
  
Makala got mad and started throwing a temper tantrum. "I just want to go to the movies! Is it so much to ask for? You let Ed go to a concert before you knew he was out partying, so I don't see why I can't go to the movies!" She stomped off into the kitchen.  
  
Rafe laughed and threw his hands towards the sky. "See? This is what I mean. Not only do we have Ed running around doing who knows what, now we have a spoiled daughter. This is just great!"  
  
"Rafe, try to relax. Stay right here a minute and I'll be right back." Alison slowly got off the bed and walked out into the kitchen. She exchanged a few words with Makala, words that Rafe couldn't hear. He figured Alison was trying to calm Makala down. Then Alison went down the hall and into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she came out wearing something that made Rafe's mouth pop wide open.  
  
"Oh my," Rafe whispered, his eyes wandering all over Alison. She had on a black silky nightgown with lace trimming at the neckline.  
  
Alison grinned. "You like?"  
  
"Oh yeah," Rafe said, his breathing getting heavier.  
  
"Well, come here then." Alison sat on the bed and patted the space next to her.  
  
Rafe was about to protest that it was too early after her accident, but then he caught another look at his wife and he pushed that thought out of his head. He wrapped his arms around Alison's waist and blew softly in her ear as he whispered, "I love you so much."  
  
"I love you more," Alison sang out, giggling.  
  
Rafe laughed at her silliness. "I don't think so."  
  
"Yes I do."  
  
"Nope, I do."  
  
"I do!"  
  
Their teasing argument soon turned into a wrestling match as they playfully tried to pin the other. When Rafe succeeded in pinning Alison, he leaned in close to her face and said, "Must I remind you that I sold my soul to get back to you?"  
  
"Of course not. I remember that everyday, Rafe. Everyday that I think about our wonderful life, and our beautiful children. But can we just call this argument a tie? You know my love for you doesn't exceed your love for me, and vice versa."  
  
"I know angel. I just like it when you argue with me. You're so sexy when you're mad, even if we were just playing around." Rafe ran his fingers through her hair and smiled.  
  
"You know, I have this sudden urge to do this." Alison kissed the spot next to his ear that made him moan. "And this." She slowly took off his shirt while he took off her nightgown. They kissed passionately with their arms around each other as they rolled around on the bed.  
  
"You're so beautiful," Rafe said, kissing down her body.  
  
"And you're just so darn handsome," Alison said, giggling.  
  
They continued to kiss each other for a while and then Rafe pulled Alison on top of him. "Wow, getting aggressive in your old age, huh?" Alison joked.  
  
Rafe hit her with a pillow before kissing her passionately again. They made love with the distant sound of a song filling the air.  
  
Later on in the day, Mia was waiting in the parking lot for Ed to come out of the grocery store. She knew that he had broken up with Trina earlier and he was pretty upset (one of the advantages to being an angel: being able to spy without being seen). There was no one around in the parking lot, so when someone came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder, it startled her.  
  
"Give me your purse. Now," a man said, holding a gun to her head. Mia started shaking and couldn't get the memories of what happened to her in the past out of her head.  
  
"Listen, sir, I don't have anything in my purse that's of value to you. See, just junk." She quickly showed the man the contents of the inside of her purse.  
  
"Alright baby, so you want to play tough. Then I'll just take it." The man was about to take her purse when Mia quickly created a wind storm by the snap of her fingers. The man gave up and started running in the other direction. Mia was pleased with herself and started skipping around.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Ed asked, just coming out of the grocery store.  
  
"Oh just a little wind storm," Mia said, smiling.  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure it was. So do you want to explain to me how it conveniently happened right when you snapped your fingers?" 


	7. Third Time Around

"What are you talking about?" Mia asked, looking away from Ed so that he couldn't see the redness of her face.  
  
"That little wind display. It was just weird that it happened right when you snapped your fingers."  
  
"Like I said, just a coincidence." Mia smiled, trying to think of a way to change the subject.  
  
Ed shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever. I don't have time to listen to this. My sister and I are staying over our aunt's house for a few days so we can give our parents some time alone. See you around." He turned and walked away.  
  
"Ed, wait!" Mia tried to catch up to him, but it was too late. "Oh that's great. What the hell am I supposed to do now!" She looked up at the sky and realized what she just said. "Oh man, I'm sorry! My bad. But seriously boss, how do you expect me to help him now?" Mia grunted and kicked a rock in frustration. This earth assignment was not going well at all.  
  
Back at home, Alison was helping Makala pack for her stay at Lucy's house and Rafe was in the living room channel surfing. "Sweetie, did you remember to pack an extra pair of underwear?" Alison asked, searching through her duffle bag.  
  
Makala was in the bathroom brushing her hair. "Yes mother."  
  
"How about your toothbrush?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Toothpaste?"  
  
"I'm sure aunt Lucy has toothpaste mother."  
  
Alison poked her head in the bathroom. "What is it with you calling me 'mother'?"  
  
Makala shrugged. "I don't know."  
  
"Well it sounds weird. Just use mom from now on, ok?" Alison took the hairbrush from her daughter and brushed her hair for her. "You have such beautiful hair."  
  
"Of course I do. I have blonde hair just like you mom," Makala laughed, putting an extra emphasis on the last word.  
  
"Yeah but, yours is so shiny and healthy. Mine is getting rather dull." Alison got a ponytail holder and then proceeded to french braid her daughter's hair.  
  
"Thanks mom. I love your french braids! You'll have to show me how to do it."  
  
"Sure." Alison stepped back and looked at her. "You are so beautiful. And you're growing up so fast. Where is the time going?" She gave her a hug.  
  
"Oh mom, stop. You sound old."  
  
"Yeah well, I'm getting there, believe me."  
  
"Oh guess what! You'll never believe what Angie told me."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well her older brother is friends with Derek's older brother. You know Derek, the guy I told you about in my class that I like, so adore? Anyway, she said that Derek said that he liked me! Can you believe it?"  
  
"Of course he likes you. You're a special girl. Who wouldn't like you?"  
  
Makala rolled her eyes. "Nevermind mom, you don't understand."  
  
Alison shrugged. "Ok if you say so. But you know you're still too young to date Ms. Makala."  
  
"Date? I'm still 11 mom! And besides, guys are all icky anyway."  
  
"I thought you said that you 'adored' him."  
  
"Yeah but that doesn't mean I want to date him or anything, ever. He's a guy! And like I said, guys are icky."  
  
Alison laughed. "Alright. Well let's go get your duffle bag and then go downstairs. Your brother should be home any minute, then you guys can go to aunt Lucy's."  
  
Almost as soon as they walked downstairs, they heard Ed walk in the house. "Well I guess you two better get going. Be good for aunt Lucy, you hear?"  
  
"Yes mother," Makala joked. She gave her mom a hug. "Love you."  
  
"I love you too sweetheart."  
  
"Hey don't I get a hug too?" Rafe asked, looking up from the magazine that he had just started reading.  
  
Makala walked over and gave her dad a hug. "I love you dad."  
  
"I love you too sweetie."  
  
Alison gave her daughter another loving glance. "Rafe, isn't she just beautiful? She's growing up so fast."  
  
Rafe affectionately ruffled Makala's hair. "Beautiful just like your mom."  
  
Alison and Makala both blushed.  
  
Ed came into the room with his bag and started to head out the door with his sister. "See ya."  
  
"Ed, wait," Alison said, putting a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing. Just wanted to give you a hug goodbye, that's all." She reached up and gave him a hug, then stepped back to look at him. It was amazing, the way he looked like Rafe. It was almost like she was looking at Rafe from years ago. "I love you Ed."  
  
"Yeah. I love you too mom. Well, bye," Ed said, walking out the door with his sister and not even looking at his dad.  
  
"Bye," Rafe said, giving a small wave. When they were well out of ear shot, he said, "Well, I can see that he just loves me."  
  
"Rafe, come on. You know that he looks up to you."  
  
"He hates me, Alison. Our own son hates me. I mean I can't say I blame him, for the way that I yelled at him after the accident and for all the times I yelled at him before that too."  
  
"Yeah but, he needs to know the rules. And you know I'm not a big yeller. I can't yell. Sure I try to, but it's just not my personality. I can't discipline. You can."  
  
"Yes but is it working? Is Ed hearing what I'm saying? Or is it just going in one ear and out the other? I don't know. I wonder why I even bother yelling sometimes."  
  
Alison sat next to him on the couch and put her arms around him to cuddle. "You know what? I'm putting down the rules right now. For you. No more talk about this, unless it's absolutely necessary, for the next 2 days. Am I clear?"  
  
Rafe laughed. "Yes ma'm."  
  
"Are you laughing at me?"  
  
"Who me? No, not at all." Rafe turned away from her and tried to keep a straight face but he couldn't. His lips curved up into a smile, which then turned into laughter.  
  
"Oh, fine. I see how it is." Alison reached her hands up his shirt and started to tickle his stomach. "What do you have to say now huh?"  
  
Rafe laughed harder and tried to fight off Alison, but he was having a hard time because she was getting his most sensitive spot. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry."  
  
Alison stopped and smiled. "Yeah, you better be."  
  
Rafe grinned and playfully pinned her. "But not sorry enough to not get you back." He tickled her, his hands reaching all over her stomach.  
  
Alison giggled and squirmed beneath him. "Rafe, cut it out!"  
  
"Hmm, I'm not hearing you," he joked, this time getting her under her arms in her sensitive spot.  
  
"Don't make me hurt you!" Alison said through her laughter.  
  
Rafe finally stopped. "Alright. I'll let you off this time. But next time, you won't be so lucky. So you better watch out."  
  
Alison rolled her eyes. "Just shut up and make love to me. Now." She smiled and started to unbutton his jeans.  
  
"Well, when you put it that way." He quickly shed off his clothes with Alison's help and Alison's clothes as well. Then he carried her to the bedroom. He made a trail of kisses all down her body. She moaned, kissing him all over as well.  
  
"Rafe," She whispered in the heat of their passion.  
  
"My angel," he said, looking at her lovingly.  
  
"I love you."  
  
"I love you too," Rafe said as they began to make love. They must have lost time, because before they knew it, it was morning.  
  
"Oh my god. I can't believe its morning already. I could have sworn it was 8 pm five minutes ago!" Alison exclaimed, looking at the clock.  
  
"I know. Wow, that was some night."  
  
"Oh yeah." Alison smiled, then she frowned a second later. She felt nausea come over her very quickly.  
  
"Angel, what's wrong?"  
  
"I think I'm going to be sick." Alison bolted out the door for the bathroom where she most definitely got sick.  
  
"Do you want me to get you anything? Some water maybe?"  
  
"No, I'm fine. I think I just have that 24 hour stomach flu that has been going around lately."  
  
"Angel, I think you'd feel better if I at least got you some water."  
  
Alison sighed and got up from her position over the toilet. "Ok. I'm just going to go lay down, so bring the water back in our room."  
  
As Rafe was about to bring Alison a glass of water from the kitchen (they kept the water filter there), the phone rang.  
  
"Rafe," Alison called from the bedroom. "Please get that. It's probably the hospital with my results. They took some blood from me after I was released from the hospital to make sure I was ok and everything."  
  
Rafe picked up the cordless. "Hello?"  
  
"Hi, this is Nina calling from the General Hospital lab. Is Alison Kovich in? We have her results."  
  
"She's feeling a little under the weather right now, so I don't think she really feels like coming to the phone right now. You can just tell me the results."  
  
"Well I'm afraid that I'm under strict orders to give the results to Ms. Kovich herself. It's personal, I do hope you understand."  
  
"It's Mrs. Kovich, not Ms. And I'm her husband so I really don't think she'd mind."  
  
"Mr. Kovich, I cannot give these results to anyone but your wife."  
  
Rafe sighed heavily. "Ok, I'll see if she feels like coming to the phone. Hold on a minute." Rafe walked back to their bedroom with the phone. "It's the hospital with your results."  
  
"Well, get them for me then. Please? I don't feel like dealing with anyone right now."  
  
"She said that she's under 'strict orders' to give the results to you and no one else."  
  
Alison rolled her eyes. "Fine. But this is ridiculous. All they're going to tell me is that I'm ok. You're my husband for goodness sakes! You should be able to get the results." Alison got the phone from Rafe. "Hello, this is Alison."  
  
"Ms. Kovich, we have your results."  
  
Alison groaned. "How many times do I have to say this? It's Mrs. Kovich. I told you at the lab at least a dozen times. That was my husband you were just talking to, and you know that! I really don't have time to deal with you people, so just give me the results."  
  
"Well Mrs. Kovich, your results came back just fine. You're in good health."  
  
"Why couldn't you just tell my husband that? He told you that I was sick."  
  
"Tell me something Mrs. Kovich. Would this 'sickness' include nausea?"  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"Because you're not sick Mrs. Kovich. You're results are fine, but we did find a little something. You're pregnant." 


	8. Tornado Warning

*A recent outbreak of tornado warnings in my area inspired me to write this chapter. And, I also made up the fact that the city of Buffalo is by Port Charles, lol. Anyway, hope you like!*  
  
Ed moaned as he rolled over to look at the clock in the guestroom of Lucy and Kevin's house. It was 8:30, which surprised Ed since he had stayed up with Makala well past midnight playing monopoly and cards. He expected that he was going to sleep in past 10 at least, but it didn't look like that was going to happen, now that he was up and heard Lucy making breakfast in the kitchen. He shrugged. What difference did it make anyway? He got out of bed and quickly descended down to the kitchen.  
  
"Good morning Eddie," Lucy said, using the nickname that she started using when Ed was born.  
  
"Good morning. Where's my sister? Isn't she up yet?"  
  
"Oh she got up around 7 actually. Her friend came over and asked if she wanted to go to the water park with her, so I let her after talking to your parents of course."  
  
"Oh ok. That's cool." Lucy set down a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of him and he smiled in approval. "So where's Kevin at? Isn't he off work today?"  
  
"Oh yeah he's off work. He took Livvie and Trina out for breakfast. You know, I haven't seen Trina in a while. How is she doing?" Lucy saw the sad expression on Ed's face and sensed what had happened before he told her. "You guys broke up?"  
  
"Yeah. She decided that some other guy was better than I am I guess."  
  
"Oh honey I'm sorry!" She gave him an affectionate squeeze.  
  
Ed sighed. "It's fine. I'm over it, you know? I guess it just wasn't meant to be, that's all."  
  
"Well you know if you ever want to talk, I'm here. It may have happened a long time ago, but I know how it feels to be a teenager who's brokenhearted. And just so you know, that other guy, can definitely not be better than you."  
  
Ed gave her a peck on the cheek. "Thanks. Hey, do you feel like going to the park? I feel like jogging along the nature trail and you know, it's a beautiful day, so I figure what better time than now?"  
  
"Honey I'd love to, but not today. I've got a million things to do. I'll definitely take a rain check though. I have to go to the grocery store, to the mall to pick up something for Doc for his birthday. Oh that reminds me! Remind your parents the party is on for Saturday."  
  
"Of course. Makala and I are going back tomorrow morning I think."  
  
"Yeah that's what your dad said. Anyway I'm going to go. Have fun at the park! My cell number is on the refrigerator. Write it down in case you need me."  
  
"Ok. Later."  
  
"Ta!"  
  
Back at Rafe and Alison's house, Alison was barely able to put down the phone. Pregnant?! "I'm too old to have a baby," Alison thought to herself as she hung up the phone slowly. "I'm almost 40!"  
  
"Angel, what's wrong?" Rafe could tell by the look on her face that the hospital hadn't given her a clean bill of health. "Was it the test results?"  
  
"No I'm fine. They said that the test results came back positive."  
  
"Then what's wrong?"  
  
Alison sighed and took a hold of Rafe's hands. "This is going to sound like a totally out of the blue question. But, what would you think of us having another baby? I mean, do you think we're too old?"  
  
"Well no, we're not that old you know! I've heard of women having babies well into their 40s, and some even into their 50s," Rafe said, wondering where this was coming from.  
  
"Really, you think so?"  
  
"Of course. Where is this coming from anyway? Are you watching those lifetime movies again?" Rafe rolled his eyes.  
  
"Rafe! You know those movies are awesome. You watched a bunch with me the day I came home from the hospital."  
  
"Just because I watched them doesn't mean that I liked them." He winked at her. "But seriously Angel, where is this coming from? Do you want to have another baby? Because if you do, I'm all for it. I think it'd be great to give our love to another child."  
  
"Well you better be all for it, because I'm pregnant. That's what the hospital called to tell me, besides to give me a clean bill of health."  
  
"You're serious? We're having another baby?"  
  
Alison smiled. "Yes. So what do you think?"  
  
"I think that's great!" Rafe picked Alison up and swung her around in a circle, making her laugh. "This is just so incredibly great." After they spent a great deal of time basking in the joy of becoming new parents again, they decided to get out Makala and Ed's baby books.  
  
"Rafe! Look at this. Here's Makala at 1. She has play dough in her hair!"  
  
"And here's Ed at 1. He has on that silly hat of Lucy's!" Rafe and Alison laughed together as they remembered their children as babies.  
  
Alison took a hold of Rafe's hands. "I know this wasn't planned, and well we aren't exactly new to this being parents thing, but you know, being pregnant a third time really makes me think of these things. You know, this child is a part of me and a part of you. It's just beautiful."  
  
"It is." Rafe put his arms around her and kissed her passionately. They were about to go through one of the most joyous events in the world yet again, and they were happier than ever.  
  
When Ed got to the park, he was surprised to find very few people there. It was such a beautiful day. Where was everyone?!  
  
"Hey Ed!" Ed had just started jogging when he heard someone call out to him. He turned around to find Mia jogging up to him. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. Her wavy red hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and she was wearing a very sexy jogging outfit that showed off her fabulous body.  
  
"Hey Mia. How are you?"  
  
"I'm alright. Just really worn out! I just jogged about 2 miles. Hey, I heard about you and Trina through the grapevine. I'm really sorry."  
  
"Oh it's ok. She turned out to be a real bitch, you know? I can't believe I ever loved her."  
  
"We all make mistakes sometimes. Lord knows I have."  
  
Ed sat down on the bench with her. "So you know, as much as I got to know you that one day, I didn't get the full story. Tell me all about you. Like, what you did back in Hawaii, what are your parents like, all that good stuff."  
  
Mia sighed. "Well, like I said, my mom is a teacher. My dad died when I was 8, so it's been just me and her for quite a while. I was into books a lot..I mean, of course I still am. I had great friends." And then Mia told him basically her life story, leaving out some things naturally but most of it was true. Except for the being from Hawaii part. She just couldn't tell him where she was actually from, or else he might find out her secret of being an angel, since her story did make national news.  
  
Ed told her all about him, leaving out absolutely nothing. After he was done telling her his own life story, the two talked for hours and hours. They only stopped talking because soon they were being poured on.  
  
"Great!" Ed exclaimed, looking around for somewhere they could go until the rain settled.  
  
"There's a shelter over there. Come on." Mia took his hand and led him to the park's covered pavilion.  
  
"You know, this is exactly how I wanted to spend my day. Trapped in the park pavilion with a beautiful girl," Ed said, smiling at Mia.  
  
Mia's face turned bright red and she laughed. "Oh Ed, please."  
  
"No I'm serious. So, who's the lucky guy that you left behind in Hawaii?"  
  
"There isn't one. In fact, I've never had a boyfriend."  
  
"You're kidding me. That's impossible!"  
  
Mia thought how ironic this was. The only time a guy flirts with her, and she's an angel. Talk about luck! "It's true. I guess the guys were too busy snow..I mean surfing." Mia groaned. She might as well wear a shirt that says 'I'm an angel' on it. Any more slip ups and Ed was sure to get suspicious.  
  
"Well, they were stupid then."  
  
A few minutes later a piercing siren caught their attention. "That sounds like our tornado siren," Ed said, looking up at the clouds.  
  
"Shouldn't we find some shelter then? Doesn't your friend Dan live near here?"  
  
"Yeah, he lives right down the street actually. But there's nothing to worry about. We haven't had a tornado here in like 30 years. The siren is the county siren. If they spot a funnel cloud in any city in this county, then they sound it off and put up tornado warnings obviously. We're fine. The tornados touch down in Buffalo all the time though."  
  
"Oh ok." They soon forgot about the siren and were talking again. They were so absorbed in talking to each other that neither noticed the black sky until they heard a roaring sound, almost like a train.  
  
"Ed, does Port Charles have train tracks by the park?"  
  
"No." They both looked at each other, and then outside. It was not only hailing, but there was a tornado forming just about 100 feet away!  
  
"Oh my god!" Mia screamed.  
  
"It's alright. Take my hand. We'll take cover in the park bathroom over there!" Together they quickly ran outside to the bathroom. They huddled together in a toilet stall, which was away from the windows. The overhead light was flickering on and off.  
  
"Oh man, my sister! She went to the water park today with her friend. I hope she got back to Lucy's ok."  
  
"Don't worry Ed. I'm sure the water park closes before its dark out, so she probably got back to Lucy's hours ago. But you know, Lucy is probably worried about you."  
  
"Yeah I know. Maybe I should.." A tree branch suddenly shattered the window in the bathroom, making both Ed and Mia jump. Mia was shaking. "Don't worry, it will be ok. I got you." Ed held Mia in his arms, rocking her back and forth and comforting her. Mia silently prayed that it would blow over soon. Even though she was an angel, she was still scared of storms, especially tornados.  
  
Back at Rafe and Alison's, Rafe got off the phone with Lucy, who called to let them know that Makala was back safe at her house. After hearing the tornado siren for the second time, Alison started to get a little worried.  
  
"Rafe, don't you think we should go down to the basement? It's starting to look really bad outside."  
  
"Come on, you've lived here all your life. There hasn't been a tornado here in 30 years. And I bet it hardly even caused any damage."  
  
Alison sighed, taking another look outside. "Well you're right. It barely blew the branches off the trees from what I remember. I was about 10 when it happened, so I can't really remember anything except being really scared because my parents were away on some trip and except for the maid, I was alone. So needless to say, I was pretty scared."  
  
"I'm sorry angel." He gave her a little hug. "I was so busy training to fight vampires when I was younger that I bet that even if a tornado blew through Transylvania, we wouldn't have noticed." The two were laughing at Rafe's joke when the electricity went out. Alison carefully walked to their bedroom to get a flashlight and Rafe lit a few candles. Alison took one last look outside when she saw something funny. The clouds were very dark. Not quite black, but a dark gray color. There was one that was pretty close to the ground. She decided to open the door to get a closer look at it.  
  
"Oh damnit! Rafe, I can see a funnel cloud!"  
  
"Take the flashlight and go down into the basement. Take the phone too and call Lucy, in case they fell asleep or something. I'll get the battery powered radio so we can listen to what the weather is doing."  
  
Alison quickly ran into the basement. She dialed Lucy's number, and Makala answered.  
  
"Makala, its mom. Are you guys in the basement?"  
  
"Yeah mom. But Ed isn't here. Lucy said he went to the city park this morning and he still hasn't come back!"  
  
"Well don't worry sweetheart. I'm sure Ed went over Dan's house or something. He'll be fine. Listen I'm going to get off the phone now. You stay safe, ok?" Alison was secretly very scared about Ed, but she didn't want to upset Makala.  
  
"Ok. I love you mom."  
  
"I love you too." Alison yelled up to Rafe, who was coming down the stairs to the basement. "Rafe, Makala said that Ed went to the park this morning and hasn't come back yet! What if he's caught there or something? What if he didn't get to shelter in time?"  
  
"Alison, relax, ok? I'm sure he's fine."  
  
Alison rolled her eyes. "Oh you sound just like every dad. 'He'll be fine. Don't worry.' Well I'm worried!"  
  
"Alison.." Rafe started to say something, but was cut off by a loud crashing sound. The tornado had touched down, and things were blowing in through their basement window. "Oh god!" Alison started to hyperventilate, and tears were rolling down her face.  
  
Rafe wrapped his arms around her and then covered her so she would be safe. "It's alright angel, I won't let anything hurt you. Don't get too worked up. You have to remember you have a little boy or girl in there to think about. Come on, say a prayer with me." They both recited a prayer, asking God to watch over Ed, Makala, Lucy, and the rest of their family, especially the new baby that was now growing inside of Alison. The prayer helped Alison to relax. They thought the tornado was done with, but apparently it wasn't. A long piece of metal flew in from outside, slashing Rafe's forehead and knocking him out.  
  
"Rafe!" Alison gently shook him. "Please answer me! Are you ok? Oh of course he's not ok Alison, he got knocked out and his blood is everywhere!" She grabbed the phone, and almost couldn't steady it in her hands because she was shaking.  
  
"911, what's your emergency?"  
  
"Please help me! My husband got his by a piece of metal that flew in our basement from the tornado. He got knocked out, and he's bleeding a lot."  
  
"What's your location?"  
  
"Um.I um." Alison couldn't even remember her address, she was so scared! "Uh, it's 124 Fairlawn Avenue. Please hurry!"  
  
"Ma'm, calm down. It's going to be ok. Now, find a shirt to cover the blood wound until help gets there, ok? Someone will be there in about 5 minutes."  
  
Alison grabbed a shirt that was hanging in the basement to use to cover Rafe's blood wound. She then called Lucy to tell her and Makala to meet them at the hospital. As she was waiting for an ambulance, Alison prayed once again that everything would be alright. 


	9. Ed and Mia, Mia and Ed

*Finally, I update! In case anyone needs to be reminded, in my story Casey is alive now and married to Ricky, and they have a daughter (she was still an angel and all that but I didn't write about her before so I'm just pretending that that's what would have happened if PC would have continued, lol). Anyway thank you to all who reviewed, and keep the reviews coming* =)  
  
Rafe was lucky to get out of the hospital with only some stitches on his forehead. When they got home, Rafe and Alison immediately started to clean up the mess that the tornado had made of their house.  
  
"Oh this is going to take forever!" Alison sighed as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.  
  
"Angel, go get some sleep. This is the last thing you should be doing."  
  
"But Rafe, I have to stay up. I need to find out if Makala and Ed are ok. You know I won't rest until I find out."  
  
Rafe walked over to her and picked up, which took her by surprise. "You, young lady, are getting some rest. I'll let you know when I hear from Lucy."  
  
Alison laughed. "Ok fine. But you better let me know the minute you hear anything."  
  
He carefully set her on their bed and gave her a short but sweet kiss. "I love you."  
  
"I love you more!"  
  
Rafe laughed as he walked out of the bedroom. "You know it's even. Now get some rest."  
  
At the park, the tornado had only broken a few windows in the bathroom and caused a few tree branches to fall. The sun was shining brightly again, peeking through the few clouds that were left in the sky. Ed called Lucy and his parents to let them know that he was ok and that he would be home by dinner time. Mia found a basketball by the basketball court and threw it to Ed, catching him off guard.  
  
"Want to play a little one on one?"  
  
Ed laughed. "Oh sure. This ought to be easy."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well I just mean that you're a girl, and I'm a guy. And you know that means I'm going to kick your ass."  
  
Mia giggled. "Yeah maybe. If I don't kick your ass first." She kicked his leg firmly but playfully, and just enough to make him mad. He gave her a look that made her go running in the other direction, and he chased after her.  
  
"You can hide but you certainly can't run," Ed teased as he caught up with her and put her in a strong headlock. "Come on tough girl, let's see you get out of this one."  
  
Mia groaned as she tried to free herself from his headlock. She reached her arms up around his neck to pinch him, and he responded back by tickling her with his free arm. She squealed and slipped, causing them both to fall to the ground. Ed fell on top of her.  
  
"You know," Ed said as he ran his hand through her silky hair and looked into her eyes, "you're really beautiful."  
  
Mia felt her heart beat faster by the minute. She forgot what her heart beating fast felt like, considering she had been dead for almost 2 years now. "And you're really..um, gorgeous." Mia felt her whole body shaking because she was so nervous. She never felt like this before.  
  
"Would you mind if I kissed you?" Mia was barely able to shake her head yes because she was so surprised. Ed put his hands on both sides of her face and gave her a few sweet kisses. Mia immediately responded by putting her arms around his neck and kissing him with more passion. She swirled her tongue over his, losing herself in the kiss. They continued for what seemed like hours and probably would have kept it up but they heard someone clearing their throat. They immediately broke apart and looked up to see Lucy standing there.  
  
"Hey Eddie. And hello, I don't think we've met before."  
  
Mia laughed nervously, still embarrassed by being caught. "Hi, I'm Mia Embers. My mom and I moved here from Hawaii a few months ago."  
  
Lucy shook her hand. "Nice to meet you Mia. Ed your parents have been worried about you! They want you to call them." Lucy handed him her cell phone. "Oh! By the way, all the schools in Port Charles have been cancelled tomorrow because of the damage from the tornado. I know that will probably make you happy since tomorrow is the first day of school."  
  
Ed and Mia each let out excited outburst, making Lucy laugh. "Ok I'm going to go wait by the car. I'll bring you both home when you're done talking to your parents." Lucy walked back to the parking lot. Ed dialed his number.  
  
"Hey dad it's me. Just wanted to let you know that I'm ok and I've been at the park."  
  
"Oh thank goodness!" Rafe called into Alison. "Hey Ed's ok!" Alison immediately jumped on the phone. "Sweetie, don't you ever scare me like that again!" Alison said, partly joking.  
  
Mia tapped Ed on the shoulder. "Hey I'm going to walk home. Thanks for everything. I'll call you later."  
  
"Who was that?" Alison asked.  
  
"Oh that was Mia."  
  
"Why don't you invite her over for dinner?"  
  
"Mia!" Ed called out to her. Mia turned around, startled. "Would you like to have dinner with us?"  
  
"Well, sure. If your parents wouldn't mind. I'm sure my mom is just going out on some blind date again," Mia said, making an excuse for her non existent mother. Well she existed alright, but just not in Port Charles. And she certainly had no idea that Mia was sent back to earth for a while to complete a mission.  
  
Ed said a quick goodbye to his parents. "When my mom found out we were hanging out she invited you."  
  
"How nice of her."  
  
Ed took her hand and they went to Lucy's car. The whole way home Ed held Mia's hand. Mia felt like she was in heaven all over again!  
  
As they walked in the door, Alison came over and gave Ed a hug. "I'm so glad you're home sweetheart. So glad."  
  
"Me too mom." Ed kissed her cheek and then Rafe came over and gave him a hug. "Glad you're safe."  
  
"Thanks dad."  
  
Makala stuck her tongue out at Ed in her usual greeting, making him laugh. "Thanks Makala, I needed that."  
  
"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Kovich, Makala. Nice to see you again."  
  
"Nice to see you too, Mia. I hope you like spaghetti and meatballs, because that's what we're having."  
  
"Sounds great. Thanks for having me."  
  
"Anytime honey."  
  
They all sat down to eat, talking and joking with one another. Mia observed that they were a very close family, and she envied that almost. At one point Ed reached under the table and started caressing Mia's leg. She smiled at him and did the same to him.  
  
After dinner was over, Mia helped clear the table and even offered to do the dishes, but Rafe wouldn't hear of it.  
  
"There's no way I'm letting a guest in our house be a slave." Mia laughed at the joke and thanked them for dinner.  
  
"I'll walk you out," Ed said, handing her coat to her as they walked outside on the porch.  
  
"I really had fun today."  
  
"So did I." Ed sighed as he tried to come up with the courage to say what he wanted to. "Ok this is really hard for me to say, so I'm just going to spit it out. I really like you, if you haven't noticed. I think you're really funny, smart, sweet, and not to mention beautiful. So I was wondering if you would like to go out with me."  
  
Mia stood there with her jaw dropped for at least a minute. She never would have believed that Ed would have feelings for her. After all, she was just a plain, ordinary girl..or in her case, that would be plain, ordinary angel. What was she supposed to say to him? 'Sorry Ed, but I can't go out with you because I'm an angel and I have to go back up to heaven in 6 months. Oh yeah that will really work', Mia thought to herself. 'Here goes nothing.'  
  
"I really like you too Ed. I hope that you don't mind if I don't give you an answer right away. I'll definitely give you one by the end of the week though." Mia smiled at him, hoping that he wouldn't mind. 'Wait a minute stupid, you were supposed to tell him that you couldn't go out with him, not that you would give him an answer at the end of the week! Oh man I've really done it now,' Mia thought to herself again.  
  
"Nope, don't mind at all. In fact, I'm really surprised you didn't turn me down on the spot!" Ed laughed.  
  
"Oh Ed come on. You're awesome, and you know that."  
  
"Yeah, maybe." Ed winked at her. "Well babe, have a good night. And not to mention a good day off school tomorrow! Even though it was technically our first day. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
Mia laughed. "Good night Ed."  
  
Ed walked closer to her and gave her a kiss. He only intended for it to be a short goodbye kiss but somehow it turned into more. Mia put her arms around his neck and they were very into until they heard giggling noises. They stopped and turned around to see Makala and her friend Angie, who immediately started singing a popular tune.  
  
"Ed and Mia sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"  
  
Mia laughed a little and felt the blood rush to her face while Ed rolled his eyes. "Ok don't you think you two are a little too old for that song?"  
  
Makala and Angie just laughed again and went into another chorus of the song, and probably would have kept on doing it if it weren't for Angie's mom Casey pulling into the driveway. She got out of the car to greet them.  
  
"Hey guys. Angie go get your stuff please. Your grandma just called and needs some help at her house cleaning."  
  
"Oh joy!" Angie exclaimed sarcastically as she and Makala went in to get her things.  
  
Rafe poked his head out the door. "Hey Casey, how are things?"  
  
"Great, thanks. How about you?"  
  
"Good. Alison said to tell you hi and that she's sorry she didn't come out to greet you herself but she's very tired and not feeling well."  
  
"Oh I'm sorry to hear that. You make sure you take good care of her!"  
  
"You know I will." Rafe went back in the house to finish cleaning up.  
  
"Oh, sorry Casey. This is my friend Mia. Mia, this is Casey."  
  
"Nice to meet you." Mia extended her hand and tried her best not to make direct eye contact with Casey. Ed noticed that and found it kind of weird but just decided to let it go.  
  
"Nice to meet you too. You know, I've got the strangest feeling we've met before. Where are you from exactly?"  
  
"Alas....I mean Hawaii."  
  
"Cool! I guess I wouldn't know you then. Who knows, maybe you have a long lost twin running around that I've run into before!" Angie came out with her things finally. "Well I guess it's time to get going. Maybe I'll see you around Mia. Bye!"  
  
"Do you want a ride home?"  
  
"No that's ok. I could use a good walk. I'll see you around." Mia gave Ed a quick hug and kiss on the cheek before turning and walking away.  
  
Ed and Makala went back in and got out a deck of cards to play War.  
  
"So Ed, can I ask you something?" Makala asked as Ed shuffled the cards.  
  
"Shoot."  
  
"Are you and Mia boyfriend and girlfriend?"  
  
Ed smiled. "Why don't you mind your own business shorty?"  
  
"Hey, I'm not short!"  
  
"Yeah you are."  
  
Rafe listened in from the kitchen to their teasing and smiled. This was how he wanted them to get along. Without any arguments.  
  
Alison came into the kitchen to get a glass of water and yawned. "Rafe, are you going to come to bed soon?"  
  
He laughed. It wasn't even 9pm yet but Alison probably thought it was near midnight because she fell asleep right after dinner. "Yes Angel."  
  
"Good." She affectionately ruffled his hair and whispered in his ear, "You know we have to tell the kids about the baby soon."  
  
"I know. We'll tell them tomorrow, don't worry."  
  
"Ok. I'm going back to bed." Alison put her cup in the sink and then slowly made her way back to their bedroom. Rafe grinned. After all these years she still looked good in silk pajamas.  
  
As Mia was walking through town, she was suddenly pulled back above by Ed.  
  
"Mia Renee Embers!" Mia cringed when she heard her name. The only time Ed referred to her by her full name was when he was angry.  
  
"Yes oh wise one."  
  
"I'm not in the mood for jokes dear girl. Now listen to me. What in heaven's name were you thinking when you told my grandson that you would give him an answer to his question of going out with you?! Are you nuts?"  
  
"Well, I thought...."  
  
"You thought nothing! Does the word 'angel' mean anything to you?"  
  
"Ok I screwed up. I apologize."  
  
"Yes you did screw up, big time. Mia this is the second time you made a mistake. I'm sorry, but if you make a mistake again I will have to take away your guardian angel privileges."  
  
"Ed, come on. Give me a chance."  
  
"I have given you a chance, Mia, that's the thing!" He sighed and came up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "I know you like my grandson Mia, but you have to face the facts. The only reason you are down there is to save him, not start a romance with him. And if you get involved with him now, there will be too many consequences later that you will BOTH have to deal with." Mia nodded.  
  
"Do you understand what I'm saying here?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Alright then. Please don't screw up again!" Ed snapped his fingers and Mia was back down on earth again. She brushed off the dirt that covered her clothes because of where she landed. "Thanks Ed! I really appreciate that! Now I have to find a laundry mat." Mia looked up and came face to face with Casey.  
  
"Who were you just talking to?"  
  
"Oh you see, whenever I fall I always blame my, um, dad. You see he died a few years ago and...."  
  
Casey held up her hand. "Save it Mia! I know who you are, and I know you know me too. Now the question is what are you doing here?" 


	10. Definitely yes

*Yes it's true. I finally got motivated enough to write another chapter! Thank you Nat, Melody, and Gracie for reviewing my last chapter. Hope you all like this one! By the way, the lyrics in this chapter are from the Boyz II Men song "I'll make love to you"*  
  
"Um, what are you talking about?" Mia asked Casey, trying to act like she had no clue what she was getting at.  
  
"Oh don't play innocent with me girl. You're an angel. I can see it! And I know that you know I used to be one too. I saw you avoiding eye contact with me when we were introduced at Ed's house."  
  
Mia smirked. "Well if that's true, then why hasn't Rafe said anything?"  
  
Casey sighed. Mia had her there. "Now that I don't know. But seriously, what are you doing here? And by here I mean on Earth. If you don't mind me asking of course."  
  
Mia laughed. Although it wasn't a friendly type of laugh. It was more of a "if you think I'm going to tell you what's going on here, you're out of your mind" kind of laugh.  
  
"Why I am here doesn't concern you, don't worry. All you need to know is that I'm here to save someone. Simple as that."  
  
Casey smiled and nodded. "And could this someone possibly be Ed?"  
  
"I can't tell you who it is. It could be anyone. Rafe, Alison, Makala, Ed, Lucy, Kevin. The possibilities are endless."  
  
"Well, whatever."  
  
Mia looked around. "Guess I better run. By the way, you won't tell anyone about this right?"  
  
"Nah don't worry about it. You're secret is safe with me sweetheart. But you just better be careful. You never know what can happen. Trust me, I know from previous experience." Casey winked at her as she walked away. Mia smiled and said a silent thank you to her. She came upon a bench a few minutes later where there was an adorable golden retriever puppy stretched out next to it.  
  
"Hey there little guy! Aren't you just the cutest thing." She pet it for a minute and then proceeded to look at its collar and see who it belonged to.  
  
'Ramsey. 244 South St.'  
  
"Oh that's great. Just what I need! It figures that the one lost puppy I find has to belong to Trina's dad. That just sucks." Oh well. Nothing she could do about it now. She wasn't very well going to leave the poor puppy to fend for itself. She picked it up and started to walk towards the street when she heard someone yell out.  
  
"What are you doing with my dog you little slut?"  
  
"Trina, hi!" Mia said in mock friendliness. "I found your puppy lying by that bench over there. And I was just about to bring it over your house. You know, doing my good deed of the day." She handed the puppy to her.  
  
"Yeah I'll bet." She hooked the puppy's collar up to the leash that she was carrying. "For your information, I was just running to the bathroom to fix my hair and makeup. So I decided it was pointless to tie him up."  
  
Mia just nodded and said, "Sorry for all the trouble." She started to walk away but Trina grabbed her arm. "Listen, we need to have a little discussion. I heard that you're very friendly with Ed now."  
  
"And this concerns you how?"  
  
"Because Ed is my man."  
  
Mia rolled her eyes. "Trina, you broke up. In fact, wasn't it because of you?"  
  
"Yes I know that. And I realize that I made a huge mistake. So back off, because I'm going to get him back. Not that it matters anyway, because he would never want anything to do with a slut like you."  
  
"Well Trina darling, hate to burst your bubble, but Ed just asked me out. So guess Ed would fall for a 'slut like me' rather than fall for a selfish bitch like you."  
  
Trina rolled her eyes and stormed off, dragging her puppy along with her. Mia smiled to herself at the satisfaction she had felt after saying that to her. It was quickly gone, however, when she realized what she had just said to Trina. She couldn't very well say something like that to Trina and then tell Ed that she couldn't go out with him. She needed to follow through with it. Even if that meant going against what the other Ed had lectured her about. But maybe she could use this to her advantage.  
  
"Oh my gosh!" Mia exclaimed to herself. "I know what I can do." If she started dating Ed that meant that she would be able to keep an even closer watch on him than if they were just friends. It might end up hurting him in the end, but it would be better than bringing him into the evil he might very well encounter if she didn't protect him.  
  
"Ed, I really hope you understand my reasoning here. I'm doing it to protect him, I promise you." She looked up at the sky and prayed that Ed would realize that she was looking after his grandson in the best way possible.  
  
She literally ran the half mile back to Ed's house and was very out of breath by the time she got there. She noticed that most of the lights in the house were out, except for the light in Ed's room. His parents and sister were probably in bed by now so she didn't want to knock on the door and disturb them. She threw a rock and aimed it so that it bounced off of the window ledge. Ed immediately opened the window to see what was going on.  
  
"Mia! What are you doing here?"  
  
"Come down here. I have something to tell you."  
  
Ed was down the stairs and outside in barely a minute. Mia giggled at the sight of him.  
  
"What? What's so funny?"  
  
"You. You're so cute."  
  
Ed laughed and he could feel his hands start to shake. His hands always shook when he was nervous, and Mia of course made him nervous. "Now what is it that you wanted to tell me?"  
  
"You know earlier when you asked me if I would go out with you, and I told you that I would think about it? Well, I have thought about it and my answer is yes."  
  
Ed's eyes lit up when she said that and couldn't help but let out an excited sound. "You have no idea how happy this makes me. No idea." He put his hands on her face and kissed her. It caught Mia by surprise a little bit but she eventually got into the kiss, gently running her hands across his back in a caressing fashion. Ed then made a trail of kisses from her lips down to her collar bone. Mia giggled when she felt his lips touch her neck. He stopped for a second and looked at her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"That's my sensitive spot."  
  
"Oh. So in other words, it turns you on?" Ed raised his eyebrows and winked at her.  
  
"Well...yes." Mia giggled again as Ed immediately started kissing her neck again.  
  
"Hey, I have a pretty wild idea."  
  
"Oh yeah? And what might that be?" Mia asked as she gave him a sexy smile.  
  
"Well since we don't have school tomorrow because it's Saturday, I was thinking we can go out and do something."  
  
"Like?"  
  
"There's a beautiful pond in the park that everyone uses for ice skating this year, and I'd say it would definitely be frozen by now. And I'll even bring a radio so we can listen to music. It can be our first date." Ed took her hands and looked into her eyes, smiling.  
  
"It sounds great! But I don't have any ice skates."  
  
"No problem. You can borrow my mom's. I'm sure you're about the same shoe size so they'll probably fit."  
  
Mia followed Ed into the basement and tried on Alison's ice skates. They were a perfect fit! It's as if fate was in her corner. They talked and laughed on the way over to the park. Ed was on cloud 9. He was falling in love with Mia, and he was falling fast.  
  
"You know, the only time I ever went ice skating was when we went on vacation about 8 years ago. I probably won't be able to stay up," Mia laughed as she laced up her skates and carefully went over to Ed.  
  
"That's ok. I don't know how to either. I guess we'll just have to hold hands."  
  
"Guess so."  
  
He took her hand and they gently glided on the ice together. Their hands fit perfectly together, almost as if they were meant to be like that. The moon was bright in the sky and the stars could be seen glistening.  
  
"You know what I never understood?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Why some people will just go out with someone just so they can have sex, and then that's it. They dump them like they never really mattered to them at all. Like they were just some piece of trash or something."  
  
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I never had a boyfriend back in Hawaii though. Probably because I was so busy with school work and the part time job that I had. And besides, I doubt any of the guys wanted me there any way.  
  
"Oh please. But, part time job? You were old enough to have one last year?"  
  
"Oh I guess I should tell you. I'm almost 17. I started school late." Mia's heart started beating fast as soon as he asked her about the job. She would have to be more careful with what she said to people!  
  
"Oh I see. So I'm dating an older woman then."  
  
"Is that a problem?"  
  
"No of course not. I love older women."  
  
"Good to know."  
  
"So I know you like books. What kind of books do you like? Let me guess. You're a girl, so it must be romance," Ed teased.  
  
"No actually, I happen to like reading science fiction and fantasy novels." When she saw the surprised look on his face, she smirked and said, "Bet you didn't guess I'd say that did you?"  
  
"No I really didn't. Wow. You're even more awesome than I thought! So did you read any of the Lord of the Rings books? Or see either or the two movies?"  
  
"Yes! I loved the books and the movies were awesome."  
  
"Yes they were. Can't wait until the new movie comes out this year." They got into an animated discussion about the movies and kept it up until it started snowing. Mia looked around and sighed happily.  
  
"I absolutely love snow!"  
  
Ed gave her a weird look. "But you've lived in Hawaii until this year right?"  
  
'Good one there,' Mia cursed herself silently. 'I guess I can't very well tell him that there was a huge blizzard in Hawaii once.'  
  
"Of course. I just mean I've always seen snow in movies and such, and I've always wanted to live somewhere where there was snow. And now it's snowing, and it's so beautiful."  
  
"You're beautiful."  
  
Mia blushed. "You can't go saying comments like that! My face turns into a tomato."  
  
Ed laughed. "But it's true. You're beautiful, sweet, funny, everything I've ever wanted in a girl all rolled into one."  
  
"You are amazing." Mia said, giving him a hug. "I just love being with you."  
  
When she turned her face for a minute to sneeze, Ed quietly picked up a small piece of ice that was lying on the ground by the pond. "Will you sill love being with me after I do this?" He put the ice down her back and laughed when she jumped and screamed.  
  
"You jerk! You are so dead!" She started chasing him around the ice and caught up to him, grabbing onto to his shirt. She threw him down and wrestled with him, both of them rolling off the pond and into the grass. He eventually pinned her, holding her hands above her head and straddling her waist.  
  
"I won."  
  
"That's only because I let you win."  
  
"No babe. It's because I'm a guy, and you're a girl, and I'm at least 30 pounds heavier than you are."  
  
Mia sighed and stuck out her tongue at him. "Oh, whatever."  
  
"How about you put that tongue to good use?" He kissed her tenderly, making her heart flutter. He let go of her hands and adjusted his position so that he was lying on top of her instead. As he was kissing her he let his hands wander a little and put them up her shirt. He stroked the skin that was just under where her bra was, and he stopped kissing to look at her to make sure it was ok. By the look on her face, it was definitely ok.  
  
Close your eyes, make a wish  
  
And blow out the candlelight  
  
For tonight is just your night  
  
We're gonna celebrate, all thru the night  
  
Pour the wine, light the fire  
  
Girl your wish is my command  
  
I submit to your demands  
  
I'll do anything, girl you need only ask  
  
I'll make love to you  
  
Like you want me to  
  
And I'll hold you tight  
  
Baby all through the night  
  
I'll make love to you  
  
When you want me to  
  
And I will not let go  
  
Till you tell me to  
  
Mia and Ed looked at each other as they heard the song come on the radio and laughed.  
  
"You know Mia, I want nothing more than to have sex with you. But I'm not some hardcore sex maniac who wants sex 24/7. To me, sex should be a beautiful thing. It should be with someone that you know inside and out, and who knows you that way as well. And I believe that also the people should be in love. I unfortunately wasted my virginity on a girl that I barely cared about. And well, Mia, I'm falling in love with you."  
  
"I think I am too. Don't worry, I don't think you're some sex maniac. We'll do that when we're ready."  
  
"Sounds good."  
  
Ed looked down upon his grandson and Mia and kind of smiled. At first he was against Mia starting a relationship with Ed, but then he realized that Mia could protect him further by doing this. He was whistling and going through some paperwork that needed to be done when there was a knock on his door.  
  
"Come in!"  
  
"Hello Edward."  
  
Ed looked up to see someone that he definitely wasn't expecting to see.  
  
"James? Pardon the little pun, but what in the hell are you doing here?"  
  
"Can't I just drop in to see an old friend?"  
  
"Cut the crap. What do you want?"  
  
James smiled. "Oh I just wanted to warn you about you're grandson. He's getting very involved with that angel girl I hear."  
  
"Yeah? And what is your point? I really don't have time for this. I have to get some paperwork done to bring to the big guy."  
  
"My point, Edward, is that you better keep close watch over him. You remember what happened last time someone wanted to stay with the woman that he loved."  
  
Ed just rolled his eyes. "Mia is not going to sell her soul to you."  
  
"I'm not talking about Mia."  
  
"Then what are you talking about?"  
  
"I'm talking about your dear grandson. I have a feeling that he will be paying a visit to me sometime in the near future."  
  
"You stay away from my grandson!"  
  
"Oh I will stay away from him. But the question is will he be able to stay away from me?" 


	11. Merry, uh, Christmas?

*FYI: this starts the very dramatic part of my story. It may be ok now, but trust me when I say things will happen that won't be to a lot of people's liking. So don't get mad!! lol. But just remember that every cloud has a silver lining =) Oh yeah, my story is definitely behind time as you will discover lol. Anyway, thanks to my faithful readers. Hope you like this chapter!*  
  
Alison moaned as she rolled out of bed. This morning was the day that she and Rafe were telling Makala and Ed about the new baby. She was sure Makala would be thrilled, but she wasn't so sure how Ed would take it. She was already 6 weeks along and had been to see the doctor several times. She walked out of the bedroom and headed toward the kitchen.  
  
"Here, hand me the spatula so I can flip the pancakes," Ed said, standing by the stove.  
  
"I will as soon as get out the milk and orange juice. Chill out!" Makala stuck her tongue out at Ed as she got out the carton of milk and orange juice from the refrigerator.  
  
Alison smiled. They were making breakfast! This was definitely something that rarely happened. Infact, it hasn't happened. She stood in the dining room quietly, admiring her children.  
  
"Good morning angel," Rafe said, coming up behind her and putting his arms around her waist as he kissed her neck.  
  
"Shh!" Alison exclaimed in a whisper, pointing to their kids in the kitchen. Rafe chuckled to himself as he watched Ed flip pancakes and Makala pour drinks and set the table. As soon as Ed was done putting the finishing touches on the pancakes, Makala proudly called out, "Mom, dad, breakfast is ready!" Rafe and Alison walked in, pretending that they had just stumbled upon the kitchen.  
  
"This looks so wonderful! You didn't have to do this for us," Alison said, giving Makala and Ed hugs while Rafe did the same.  
  
"This is definitely the best way to start out my Saturday morning. Thank you," Rafe said as he sat down at the table and helped himself to the food. As they ate, they talked about various things, such as the fact that it was Christmas Eve, and Lucy's famous Christmas Eve part was that night.  
  
"You know it's amazing," Ed commented as he took a sip of milk. "Every year Aunt Lucy and Kevin has this huge party for Christmas Eve and every year, Lucy and Kevin end up buying duplicate fruit trays because neither one bothered to check with the other one to see what they were buying. And then they end up having rooms full of food that no one eats. She says the same thing every year when she greets people at the door. 'Happy Holidays. Eat some fruit it's good for you!'"  
  
Rafe, Alison and Makala laughed at Ed's impression of Lucy's Christmas Eve greeting.  
  
"Oh, and remember last year when we ordered 10 pizzas, but they wrote the order down wrong and we ended up with 100 large pizzas?"  
  
Alison almost spit out her milk because she was laughing so hard. "And we were all sick the next day because we ate too much pizza!"  
  
Ed and Makala cleared the table when everyone was done and even did the dishes. As they were doing this, Alison looked over at Rafe and raised her eyebrows. So far the morning was perfect. She grabbed Rafe's hand and whispered in his ear, "Get ready for the moment of truth."  
  
As soon as Makala and Ed were done doing the dishes, Rafe cleared his throat to get their attention. "Your mother and I have something we want to tell the two of you."  
  
"Well dad, what is it?" Ed asked, very curious as to what it could be. It was obviously something important because otherwise, they would have just said it.  
  
Alison grabbed a hold of Rafe's hand. "How would the two of you feel about a new addition to the family?"  
  
Ed and Makala looked back at their parents with puzzled looks on their faces. When they didn't respond, Alison decided to go ahead with the news.  
  
"Well, I'm having a baby."  
  
Makala's eyes immediately lit up. "I'm going to be a big sister then?"  
  
Rafe laughed. "That's right sweetie."  
  
"Cool! No more listening to you boss me around anymore." Makala stuck her tongue out at Ed in a teasing manner. Ed just kind of stood there, not saying or doing anything at all.  
  
Alison smiled. "I will be relying especially on you, Ed, to help me with the baby once it's born."  
  
"What exactly do you mean by 'help'?" Ed asked, pretty much guessing what the answer would be.  
  
"Oh you know, just a little bit of babysitting," Rafe winked at his son. "It won't hurt you or anything."  
  
"So you mean to tell me that I have to give up my social life because you two can't keep your pants on?"  
  
Rafe raised his eyebrows at Ed. "Excuse me young man? What did you just say?"  
  
"You heard what I said."  
  
Rafe turned to Makala. "Sweetheart, why don't you go upstairs for a little bit?"  
  
Makala sighed and rolled her eyes. "Ok I guess. I always miss the good stuff!" As soon as she left, Rafe turned back to Ed.  
  
"I can't believe that you would think that way about the baby that your mother is having, who happens to be either your brother or sister."  
  
"No it's not, because it hasn't been born yet. And if you want my opinion, I really hope it's not."  
  
"Edward! How can you say that?" Rafe looked at his son sternly and kept on yelling until finally Alison interrupted.  
  
"Rafe, stop. If Ed feels that way, there's nothing we can do about it."  
  
"Oh yes there is. Ed, apologize to your mother. Tell her you didn't mean what you said."  
  
Ed sighed. "Sorry mom, but I can't do that. Because this is the way I feel."  
  
Tears started rolling down Alison's face. "It's ok."  
  
"No it's not ok!," Rafe yelled. "Ed I honestly don't know what to do with you. First the drinking, then Trina, and now this? What is wrong with you?"  
  
"Well I'll save you the trouble of figuring out what to do with me. I'll just move out."  
  
Alison grabbed Ed's hand. "No! Ed you will do no such thing. Yes you may screw up sometimes and your father and I may not be too happy about it, but we still love you. Please understand that. Nothing you could do will change that."  
  
"I love you too mom. But dad obviously doesn't care one way or the other if I move out."  
  
"That's not true. I'm sorry I said what I said Ed. You know I didn't mean anything by it except for the fact that I'm concerned about you, that's all."  
  
"I'm leaving." Ed grabbed his car keys and coat from the kitchen.  
  
"Just where the hell do you think you're going to go?"  
  
"Oh don't worry, dad. I won't go anywhere that would disappoint you. I'll be fine, trust me."  
  
"Ed, please. It's Christmas Eve!" Alison looked at her son with a pleading look in her eyes.  
  
"Yeah. Tell Makala I said Merry Christmas and I'll stop by with her present sometime next week, ok? Tell Lucy and Kevin the same thing."  
  
Rafe followed his son halfway out the door. "Ed, don't do this."  
  
Ed took one last look at his parents and home before he turned to leave. "Goodbye."  
  
Alison started sobbing hysterically and collapsed right into Rafe's arms. "Rafe, aren't you going to go after him? Or call the cops or something? Please do something! I don't want him hurting himself because I know how he gets when he's angry, and I don't want him doing that or hurting someone else for that matter.  
  
Rafe stroked Alison's hair. "He'll be alright angel. Just let him blow off some steam a little bit and trust me when I say that he will be back tomorrow morning for Christmas. I guarantee it."  
  
"But where could he have possibly gone?"  
  
"Probably a quick stop to the mall before it closes. He mentioned earlier that he still hadn't bought Mia's present yet. So that's my guess. He'll go there to get her something, and then he'll go see her and probably spend the night with her. And he will be back tomorrow."  
  
"You really think so?"  
  
"I know so." Rafe kissed Alison's forehead and guided her into the living room. "Come on, you need to lie down and rest so we can go to Lucy's party later."  
  
At the mall, Ed sighed as he waited in a ridiculously long line at the jewelry store. Apparently he wasn't the only one who was shopping late. It looked like practically the whole town of Port Charles was doing some last minute Christmas shopping!  
  
"Man, I just can't believe all these people here. I'm never shopping on Christmas Eve again," said a guy that was standing next to Ed. He was slightly taller than Ed and had jet black hair and brown eyes. He looked to be about Ed's age.  
  
"Yeah I know. I mean, I just expected there to be all guys in here since guys procrastinate when it comes to getting presents, but nope I was wrong. There are definitely women in here as well!"  
  
The guy laughed. The two of them carried on a friendly conversation for about 10 minutes before he finally introduced himself. "My name's Cal. Cal Moore. I just moved here from..Texas. I'll be starting in 11th grade in January."  
  
Ed shook his hand. "Ed Kovich. I'm in 11th grade as well."  
  
"Guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other then."  
  
"Hey that's cool. I'm always up to making new friends."  
  
"Likewise."  
  
Up in heaven, the older Ed threw the pen he had in his hand down in frustration as he looked down upon his grandson. He had a feeling this was going to happen.  
  
"James!" He opened the door and yelled out. "Get in here right now!"  
  
James came in normally, acting like he had no clue as to what he wanted. "You yelled Edward?"  
  
"Yeah, your damn right I yelled. You want to explain to me what in the hell, pardon my pun again, this is?" He pointed angrily at the screen involving his grandson.  
  
James watched it for a minute. "Looks like the younger Edward is making a new friend."  
  
"Oh please James. Surely a man of your experience can come up with a much better story than that. This is your doing isn't it!?"  
  
"Edward, I'm shocked. You are accusing me of interfering with your grandson's life?"  
  
"Yes that's right. And if this so called Cal is who I think it is, then I know it's your doing for sure!"  
  
James shrugged. "I am simply helping the poor boy out. He needs more friends than Dan and that poor pathetic excuse for a girlfriend that he has."  
  
"That poor pathetic excuse for a girlfriend just happens to be a guardian angel. And so help me, if you are doing anything to harm my grandson I will be sure to let Mia know and she will fix it ASAP!"  
  
James laughed. "You warn Mia, and your grandson will surely be in danger."  
  
Ed raised his eyebrows. "So you are doing more than just 'helping' my grandson out. I knew it! I just knew it!"  
  
"Now now, don't go assuming things Edward. I'm just simply stating a fact. If Mia finds out on her own what is going on, then she is more than welcome to try and help your grandson out of the mess he will be in. If she can't figure it out for herself though, then it will be up to your grandson alone to help himself out. I am not interfering in any way. He is just going to get an offer that he simply might not be able to refuse."  
  
Ed glared at him. "James, so help me God, if I wasn't an angel right now.."  
  
"You better be careful what you say there Edward. God is listening."  
  
"Oh please James, spare me! By the way, what gives you any right to do this? My grandson didn't ask for any help from you!"  
  
"Oh but he will be when he finds out his precious Mia is an angel."  
  
"He's certainly not going to find out from Mia."  
  
"That's what you think."  
  
"Ok James, you know what? Get out of here. I've had enough of you for today. Infact, I've had enough of you for the rest of eternity!"  
  
"No need to be so harsh Edward. I will go if you wish."  
  
"I wish. Now out!"  
  
As soon as James left, Ed sat back down at his desk to think. He already had to go through watching his son almost get himself in hot water. He didn't know how much more of this good/evil battle he could take. At one point or another, evil wins. And as much as he believed in his grandson and Mia, he had a feeling that this was that point. 


	12. Love is a great thing

*Thank you Gracie, Nat, and PCGirl for reviewing my last chapter! You guys are so nice even when I know my story isn't so great, lol. This is very rare for me, updating so soon. But I had a creative light bulb go off in my head so I had to go with it. I might even get the next chapter out by tomorrow, very rare for me too, lol. Anyway, hope you like!*  
  
Ed finally got out of the mall 5 minutes before closing time on Christmas Eve. He had five bags in his hand all filled with presents for his parents, Makala, Lucy, Kevin, Christina, Serena, his grandmother, his Aunt Raina, and Mia. He spent close to an hour in the jewelry store looking for something for Mia. He had finally decided on an Italian charm bracelet. Along with the bracelet, he had also bought two charms: a heart, and an angel, since that was how he thought of Mia.  
  
He put the presents in the backseat of his car, with the exception of Mia's bracelet. He got out the directions to Mia's apartment and started his car. Looking over the directions, he was happy to see that her apartment was on the road that was literally right by the mall. In less than five minutes, he pulled into the parking lot of the apartment. He got out of the car, holding the box with Mia's present in it tightly in his hands. His hands were shaking because he was so nervous.  
  
"Well, here goes nothing," Ed said to himself as he approached the call box to the apartment. He pressed the button that said "Embers" on it.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Um, Mia?"  
  
"Yes, who is this?"  
  
"It's Ed. I'm standing outside your apartment building. I know I probably should have called first, since it is Christmas Eve and all, but I have your present. So if you're not busy..."  
  
"Come on up! I'm on the second floor, first door on the right."  
  
Ed immediately went upstairs and found her door. He hesitated a little before he knocked on the door. He didn't know why, but he was just so nervous when it came to Mia!  
  
"Hey!" Mia greeted him with a smile on her face. Ed couldn't believe how gorgeous she looked. She was wearing a red sweater, black pants, and her normal wavy hair was curly. An emerald green stone ring was on the middle finger of her right hand. She also had a bell around her neck, obviously to be festive.  
  
"You look beautiful babe. I love your hair that way."  
  
Mia blushed like she always did when Ed gave her compliments. "Thank you. You look great too."  
  
"Thanks. Oh, this is your present. But you can't open it until midnight." Ed winked at her as he handed her the present.  
  
"Ok fine. I'll set this on the table. Here, I'll take your coat for you too." She took Ed's coat and brought it to the closet in the kitchen. As soon as she realized that Ed had followed her, she laughed and asked, "Would you like a grand tour of my apartment sir?"  
  
Ed took her hand and said, "I'd be delighted to milady."  
  
"Well here is the kitchen obviously. There's the oven, refrigerator, microwave, coffee pot, toaster, cabinets, sink, and table. Any questions? Great let's move on." Ed laughed as Mia, acting rather silly, led him into the living room.  
  
"And here is the fabulous living room. There's the TV, couch, recliner chair, stereo, cordless phone, bookcase. And oh, can't forget the amazing fish tank. Any questions? Wonderful. On to the bathroom!"  
  
"Wait. I have a question."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"What's a TV? What do you do with it?"  
  
Mia gave him a look. "Ed, you're not funny. To the bathroom we go!" Ed followed Mia along, laughing at his lame attempt at a little joke.  
  
"Here is the bathroom. There's the toilet, the bathtub/shower, the medicine cabinet, and the sink. Any questions?"  
  
"Yeah, what's a toilet? What do you..?" Before Ed could finish, Mia cut him off.  
  
"Ed, I swear any more comments like that and I will hurt you."  
  
Ed raised his eyebrows. "Oh I'm scared now!"  
  
Mia hit his shoulder playfully. "Shut up. Alright, we can't open my mom's door because she doesn't like it when people she doesn't know see her room when she's not there." It wasn't exactly a lie since that's how her mom was. But considering the fact that Mia didn't live with her mom anymore since her mom knows she's dead, and she also happened to live on the other side of the USA, it was kind of a lie.  
  
"Where is your mom anyway? I wanted to meet her."  
  
"Oh you will eventually don't worry. She went to a Christmas party that I wasn't invited to." Yet another lie! Mia had never lied so much in her life. She knew she shouldn't feel guilty since she couldn't tell Ed the exact truth, but she still couldn't help feeling like she was betraying him in some way.  
  
"Oh ok, that's cool. So let's see your room then."  
  
Mia rolled her eyes. "Ok I suppose." He led him across the hall to her bedroom. "And this, obviously, is my bedroom. There's a bed, a dresser, a closet, a bookcase, and a little TV on the other dresser over there."  
  
"And a bra on the floor," Ed said, looking over at Mia and giving her a wicked smile.  
  
Mia blushed furiously. "I'll take that." She was going to take her bra and throw it in the hamper like she intended to earlier but Ed snatched it from the floor before she had the chance.  
  
"No, I think you want this to be seen. Otherwise you wouldn't have left it on the floor. Hmm, I believe a black lace bra signifies that someone is thinking about sex."  
  
"I am not thinking about sex."  
  
"Oh really?"  
  
"Yeah really. Now give the bra to me so I can put it in the hamper."  
  
"I think you're lieing. Come on Mia, I'm your boyfriend, you can tell me anything. You know you want me."  
  
Mia was trying hard not to laugh. She was embarrassed by it of course, but she found it more amusing than embarrassing because of the way Ed was acting. "Ed, cut it out."  
  
"Come on baby, let's get it on," Ed said in a teasing voice, coming closer to her.  
  
"Ed, I'm not kidding."  
  
"What's wrong? Don't you want to play?" He reached his hands up her shirt and lightly tickled her ribs.  
  
Mia giggled and stepped back. "Ed!"  
  
"Well that's what it takes to get you to laugh. I'll have to remember that if you ever have a bad day."  
  
"Alright Ed you've had your fun. Now hand it over."  
  
Ed smiled and handed it to Mia and she put it in the hamper.  
  
"You know, I don't think I gave you a proper greeting. So hi." Ed gave her a hug and a little peck.  
  
"Hi yourself." Mia hugged him back, rubbing his shoulders and neck.  
  
"That feels really good."  
  
"Well sit down on my bed then and I'll give you a massage."  
  
"I definitely can't pass up this offer," Ed said, smiling as he sat down on his bed and took off his shirt.  
  
Mia raised her eyebrows. "Um, what are you doing?"  
  
"You're going to give me a massage right?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well, I have to make sure you do it right."  
  
"Ok then."  
  
Mia's heart was beating faster than normal. Ed had an amazing body. He wasn't too skinny, and had just the right amount of body fat on him. He didn't have a six pack or anything, but he did have broad shoulders and great arm muscles. Mia started out by slowing rubbing his neck. She used her thumbs to make circles across the back of his neck. She then worked her way to the top of his back and gently ran her hands back and forth. Using her nails, she started to make figure eight's down his back which made him squirm a little.  
  
"Damn baby. You're turning me on so much right now."  
  
"I'm sorry. Is that bad?"  
  
"Well no, but you do realize that by turning me on that it's making me want sex really bad."  
  
"Ok. I'll stop then."  
  
"That's fine. I wanted to make out with you anyway." He pulled her on top of him in a playful way, kissing her passionately. As he did this, he started running his hands under the back of her shirt, almost unhooking her bra. When she felt him do this, Mia pushed off him.  
  
"Ok, I think it's time for me to give you your present before this gets any further," Mia said, quickly getting off the bed and going over to her dresser. She pulled out a rectangular shaped box that was in a little bag. Ed stayed on her bed, keeping his shirt off because he was hoping that she felt the same passion as he did at that moment.  
  
"I know it's not much, but I saw it and I thought of you." Ed opened the box to find a silver watch. He noticed that something was carved on the inner part of the watch band. It said: "To my best friend. Love always, Mia."  
  
"Mia, I love it."  
  
"I just want you to know that I really do think of you as my best friend as well as my boyfriend. I really care about you. You are just...well, you're great!" Mia exclaimed, laughing because she couldn't quite come up with exactly what she wanted to say. But from the look in Ed's eyes, she could tell that she didn't need to say it.  
  
"I feel the same way about you. Thank you so much for the present. This is always going to be on me. Now for your present." Ed got her present out and handed it to her. As soon as she opened it, she smiled.  
  
"A charm bracelet! I've been wanting to get one of these."  
  
"I picked an angel because that's how I think of you, as my angel. And the heart because, well, because I love you." 


	13. Until it all comes crashing down

Mia stared at Ed for what seemed like forever with a look of shock on her face. Tears started rolling down her face. It was honestly the sweetest thing that a guy has ever said to her. If only he knew the truth! He would be surprised to find out that he wasn't too far from the truth. In fact, it was the truth.  
  
"What Mia? I didn't think that saying I love you to someone would make them sad."  
  
"No that's not it at all. It's just that I've never had any guy say anything like that to me before. It was just so sweet. And oh, I love you too." As soon as she finished saying that, Ed put his hands on the sides of her face and kissed her with so much passion that she literally almost fell back. She laughed as she kissed Ed, trying to find her way over to the dresser to set her bracelet down. This time when he felt for her bra, she didn't stop him.  
  
"Are you sure you're ready for this? I don't want you to do something that you will regret or that you're too scared to do," Ed said she he finished unhooking her bra and taking her shirt off.  
  
"Yes I'm sure. This is exactly how I wanted my first time to be, with the one that I'm in love with."  
  
"Wait a minute though. I want everything to be perfect for you. Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back." Ed ran to Mia's restroom where he remembered seeing the scented candles and got those. He also picked up a romantic songs cd that he saw in the living room.  
  
"I got this to help set the mood," he said as he turned off the lights and lit a few candles. He then put the cd in her cd player. "And this is for a little romantic atmosphere. Not like I need one or anything, because you're all I need. Now and always."  
  
She smiled and held back the tears that were about to explode out from her again. He was just so amazing. As the first song started playing, Ed went over to Mia and began right where he left off. He started by kissing her lips and then he slowly made his way down to her neck, gently using his tongue.  
  
Mia sighed deeply as they made their way over to her bed, never taking their hands off of each other. They took turns unbuttoning each other's pants. She ran her hands over his back, massaging gently. Ed made a trail of kisses from her neck down to her waistline. He entered her slowly, making sure that it didn't hurt too much. Mia gasped and let out a little moan, surprised by the feeling.  
  
Ed whispered in her ear, "I love you so much baby."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
An hour later they were still in her bed, wrapped in each other's arms. Mia was completely in awe of how simply wonderful it was. "That was just amazing. It was so perfect."  
  
"It was. All because of you."  
  
"Oh Ed, come on, be serious here! That was my first time."  
  
"And if I didn't know that, I wouldn't be able to tell. Everything you did was perfect. I felt like I was in heaven."  
  
Mia rolled over in the bed as she remembered something. She may be going out with him so she could save him, but she couldn't very well save him by having sex with him all day, everyday. 'I really need to get a grip on reality,' Mia thought to herself. 'As much as I would like to be with Ed forever, the fact is that I can't. I will eventually be going back up to heaven and I will have to leave him here. How I'm going to do that without letting him know that I'm an angel is the question.'  
  
The buzzer to her apartment rang. Ed looked over at her and asked, "Are you expecting someone?"  
  
"No. I don't know who that could be." She quickly gathered her clothes and put them on as she ran to the intercom.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Hey Mia, its Dan. I hope I'm not disturbing you or anything, but I figured Ed would be here and I was wondering if he would like to hang out with us. We're going over Lucy and Kevin's for their Christmas Eve party."  
  
"Hey Dan. Come on up! Second floor, first door on the right."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Mia opened the door to greet him. "Hey! Merry..." She was about to say Merry Christmas but she saw that Trina was with Dan, along with another guy that she hadn't seen before.  
  
"Hi Mia!" Trina said, putting on a rather fake smile.  
  
"Hi Trina. Never thought I'd be letting you in my house."  
  
"Yeah well I didn't exactly want to come here either, but Dan wanted to hang out with Ed and Cal, and they called me so I came. And we knew you'd be here since you go after everyone's man because you're such a slut."  
  
"Ok, wait a minute.."  
  
"Ok ladies, that's enough! Where's Ed at?"  
  
"Right here." Ed had just entered the room.  
  
"Hey man, what's up? Well, I hear you've already met Cal, and of course you know Trina so introductions needed, except for Mia. Mia, this is Cal Moore. He's going to be starting 11th grade at our school in January. Cal, this is Mia Embers. Ed's girlfriend."  
  
"Pleasure to meet you Mia. Ed told me a little bit about you when I was standing in line with him at the mall. I can see that he was right. You are beautiful."  
  
Mia laughed a little. "Nice to meet you too." As she shook his hand, she couldn't help but notice that something was very different about him. Even though he seemed nice, she could sense something very evil about him. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but she had a bad feeling about it.  
  
"Ed, can I speak to you in private for a moment?" Trina asked, taking his hand and pulling him away without waiting for an answer from him.  
  
Mia felt a little awkward when Dan and Cal started talking because she wasn't included in the conversation. After about five minutes Ed and Trina were still talking and she really started to feel uncomfortable, especially when she heard them laughing. Finally they came back.  
  
"Well, in case you wanted to know, Ed and I are now friends. We decided that it was silly to be on bad terms with each other."  
  
"That's great," Mia said, although she didn't really mean it. She obviously didn't like Trina very much, and Ed getting involved with her again, even if they were just friends, wasn't a very good idea.  
  
Cal decided to break the silence that was starting to form between them. "Well, like Dan said earlier, we were wondering if you would like to go to Lucy and Kevin's party."  
  
Not knowing that Ed had a fall out with his parents, Mia answered for him. "Sure, that'd be great."  
  
"Well actually, I'd rather we not go to Lucy and Kevin's tonight, if that's ok with you guys. I had a fight with my parents."  
  
"Oh Ed, I'm sorry. Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
Ed shrugged. "No big deal."  
  
"Well we can find somewhere else to go. Oh, no offense Mia, but we just came here to take Ed, not you," Trina said.  
  
'Yeah, no offense my ass,' Mia thought. Trina was obviously happy that Mia wasn't going to be going along with them.  
  
"Is that ok babe? I don't want to leave you here by yourself."  
  
"It's fine. My mom will be home soon anyway. But, can I talk to you for a minute in private?" Ed felt a sudden rush of déjà vu as he was being pulled away by Mia now.  
  
"Listen, you are going to think this is really weird, but I need to tell you this. I have a very bad feeling about that Cal guy. I know I just met him and all, but trust me, I just don't think he's a good person to be hanging out with."  
  
"Relax, he seems cool to me. If you're uncomfortable because Trina is going along, just tell me. You don't have to make up a story about Cal. You know you can tell me anything. But really, you don't have anything to worry about. I love you and only you, and Trina is just my friend. We just have a little history that's all."  
  
"Ed, please, just listen to me. I'm not making up the story about Cal because I'm worried about Trina. I mean don't get me wrong, you know I don't like Trina very much, but I'm ok with you two being friends. I just have a bad feeling about Cal. It's very weird, but I felt it as soon as I shook his hand. I really don't think you should go with them tonight."  
  
"Mia, as much as I love you, I'm not going to give up my friends for you."  
  
"I'm not asking you to. I'm just simply telling you that I don't think you should go with them tonight."  
  
"You know, I get enough of this from my dad. I really don't need it from my girlfriend too. And if this is how you are going to act, then I really don't need you as my girlfriend."  
  
He turned his back on her and went back to Dan, Trina, and Cal. "Ok guys, I'm ready. Let's go."  
  
"Great! Have a Merry Christmas Mia. I'll see you around I'm sure," Dan said as he put his gloves back on.  
  
"Yeah, Merry Christmas Mia and nice to meet you."  
  
Trina just smirked and simply said, "Bye", as she started heading out the door.  
  
"Ed, please, don't go!"  
  
"Sorry Mia. Take care of yourself."  
  
"No, you don't mean that. Please, after everything you said tonight and after what we did. You don't mean that you don't want to see me again."  
  
Ed sighed as he took one last look at her. "A girlfriend shouldn't forbid her boyfriend to see his friends, and that's exactly what you are doing. I really thought you were different than the rest Mia. I really did. So, goodbye I guess."  
  
Mia started to cry as she watched him walk out the door. As much as she knew that she would eventually have to end things with Ed, she didn't want it to be like this. She would never be able to save him now, not when he never wanted to see her again.  
  
"Damnit now what am I supposed to do!?" Mia screamed up at the ceiling, talking to the other Ed. "It wasn't supposed to be like this you know. Now how in the hell am I going to save him?" There was a crack of thunder immediately following her last comment, which probably meant that Ed wasn't too happy with the way she was acting.  
  
"Well seriously, there's no way I can do this!" Mia groaned in frustration and threw a book at the TV. It looked like she would be spending the rest of her Christmas figuring out a way to help him. 


	14. Time to get the party started!

*Thank you to my faithful readers (Gracie, Nat, and Melody) for reviewing! Melody, don't feel like an idiot- I sometimes get behind and don't realize people updated their stories =) And yes, my story is still during Christmas. Sorry I'm so far behind but I couldn't skip Christmas since I already skipped Thanksgiving! lol. At this rate I'll get to Easter by Thanksgiving time! Anyway, hope you all like!*  
  
"Merry Christmas!" Trina yelled as she entered her dad's house with Ed, Dan, Cal, and about 30 other people they picked up along the way. Most of them were there to get away from their family for a little while. Jack was visiting his cousins in Colorado until the next day. "My dad won't be home until about 7am and it's barely midnight now, so we have plenty of time!"  
  
Most of the people immediately went to Jack's liquor cabinet and pulled out bottles of vodka, rum, and any other kind of alcohol they could find. Ed settled on a bottle of Smirnoff and sat on the couch. Usually he was up for a good party, but not tonight. He was too angry to care about a dumb party.  
  
Trina came over to him and tried to flirt with him. "I really missed you Ed. I know it wasn't that long, but it seemed like it's been forever since we've been together. I can't wait to get started up again." She started kissing Ed's neck and rubbing around his stomach. Ed, however, wasn't the least bit interested in Trina. He looked over at Dan, who was downing glasses of vodka and talking to Cal, who was smoking a joint. Another kid turned on the radio that was in the living room to the highest volume.  
  
"No offense Trina. I'm glad we're friends, but I really don't want to do that right now."  
  
"That's ok baby. We can just take it to the next level. Come on, let's go to my room before someone else beats us to it." Trina grabbed Ed's hand and tried to get him off the couch, but he wouldn't move.  
  
"Trina, no."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"I said no."  
  
Trina raised her eyebrows. "Oh hell no. You just did not say no to me. Do you even understand how many guys would kill for the chance to even have one night of passion with me?"  
  
"Go find one of those guys then. I'm not interested."  
  
"Ok, fine. I thought you loved me!" Trina ran off with tears in her eyes to what Ed thought was her bedroom. What he didn't know is that she just went into the kitchen where Dan was drinking alone.  
  
"Hey Dan. I need to talk to you."  
  
"Why sure I'll talk to you Trixie. I mean, Trina! Yeah that's it. Trista!" Dan laughed again as he set down what was his 6th glass of vodka.  
  
Seeing that she had tears in her eyes, Dan was suddenly concerned. "What's wrong Trina?"  
  
"Take me Dan. Now!" Trina threw Dan down on the kitchen table and aggressively started kissing him. Dan was a little shocked, but he was so drunk that he probably didn't even know what was going on. They ripped off each other's clothes in a quick fashion and were soon having sex on the kitchen table.  
  
Cal decided to join Ed on the couch. "Hey man, I saw what happened with Trina. What was up with her?"  
  
Ed groaned a little. "Oh she's just being herself. I'm sure you know by now that we used to go out. She just wanted to start something up again and I didn't want to, so she got kind of mad."  
  
"She's just trying to get some attention I'm sure. Here, this will help to relax you a little bit," Cal said, handing Ed a joint and a lighter.  
  
Ed contemplated whether or not to light it. He had never done drugs before, and he didn't even think about doing them until tonight. But he did need to relax and get his mind off Mia, and apparently Trina, so maybe it would help.  
  
"Sure why not. Want to go outside on the porch though? It's not too cold out I don't think."  
  
"Yeah let's go." Cal followed Ed into the bedroom where everyone had put their coats and grabbed them and then went outside. As they went outside they realized that the music was so loud that it had been vibrating the house and a few other houses on the street.  
  
Meanwhile, on the other side of Port Charles...  
  
"Happy Holidays. Eat some fruit its good for you!" Lucy sang out in her usual Christmas Eve greeting.  
  
Makala looked at her parents and giggled as she remembered Ed's imitation of Lucy the other night. She then walked into the other room to hang out with Angie. Everyone was mingling and having fun until all of a sudden someone shouted out, "The police are here!"  
  
Lucy and Kevin looked at each other in disbelief. Why in the world would the police be here?  
  
"Ok everyone stay calm. I'll go see what they want," Kevin said as he grabbed a sweater and went out the front door.  
  
"What seems to be the problem officers?"  
  
"We have a report of loud music, underage drinking, and drugs here."  
  
Kevin laughed. "What? This is a very casual family and friends Christmas Eve party. I can assure you that there are no underage drinkers here. There are minors, yes, but none of them are drinking. And there are especially no drugs here!"  
  
The two police officers looked at each other in disbelief and looked over the report. "The report we have here says loud music, underage drinking, and drugs at 244 South St. This was called in by the neighbor."  
  
Kevin laughed again, although this time it was an "I can't believe this" laugh. "This is 244 Soy St., NOT South."  
  
The officers looked at the street sign again. "Sorry about the inconvenience sir. Have a Merry Christmas."  
  
"Yeah, you two." As they walked back to their cars, Kevin mumbled under his breath, "I hope someone gets you two some glasses for Christmas."  
  
Lucy and Livvie ran out to see what was wrong. "Doc, what was the problem?"  
  
"Oh nothing. They just thought this was 244 South St., where apparently there is a loud party going on with drinking and drugs."  
  
Livvie's face turned pale as she realized something. "Oh my gosh, that's Jack's house! He's out of town until tomorrow morning. And Trina is probably over there. She said she was going to go find Ed and see what he was doing tonight."  
  
"Well then you better get over there, Livvie, and stop the party before the cops do. I'll let Rafe and Alison know."  
  
Livvie sighed angrily. "Oh I'll stop it alright, and ground Trina until she's old, white, and crippled!"  
  
"You know Livvie, Trina wouldn't be like this if you would pay a little more attention to her and discipline her better instead of letting her do whatever she wants whenever you get tired of listening to her whine," Lucy said, after running back in to grab Livvie's coat and car keys.  
  
"Whatever Lucy. Don't make this like it was 16 years ago. I didn't need to hear your advice then, and I sure don't need to hear it now. Dad, I'll have Trina call you later."  
  
"Ok. Good lucky Honey," Kevin said, giving his daughter a kiss on the cheek.  
  
"Thanks." Livvie was about to turn and leave when she almost ran into someone. Right in front of her was Rafe and Alison with a very tired and sick looking Makala. They all glared at each other for a moment before Livvie spoke up. "Hello Alison, Rafe. How are you doing sweetie?" Livvie asked, smiling at Makala.  
  
"I'm ok, but I've been coughing and sneezing and my throat hurts now. My mom and dad want us to go before it gets any worse."  
  
"Well, I hope you feel better."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Lucy bit her lip as she contemplated what to say. "Um, Alison, Rafe, how would you feel about Makala staying here overnight? You know, since you all are coming over tomorrow morning to open presents and all."  
  
"Normally we would love to have her stay here Lucy, but I think she might be coming down with the flu. I don't want her to stay anywhere else but home tonight."  
  
"Well, I think you'll change your mind when I tell you this." Lucy pulled Alison and Rafe aside to explain the situation. She barely got the last sentence out before Alison was fuming.  
  
"This is all your fault!" Alison screamed at Livvie. "If you gave one damn about your daughter, my son wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. Do you have any idea at all how to raise a child?!"  
  
"Wait a minute, my daughter did not make your son go to that party or anything. He chose to go on his own. So back off and go practice some witchcraft or something!"  
  
"Hey! That's enough out of both of you. While you two are wasting time arguing, our children could very well be getting in a lot of trouble. So let's go stop it before someone else does," Rafe said, hoping to calm them both. "And Makala, I'm going to have you stay over here for a while. I don't know what time we will be back, but I promise we will be back by tomorrow morning, ok? Aunt Lucy and Uncle Kevin have plenty of medicine so make sure you take some. And go to bed soon so you can get your rest! I love you." Rafe gave Makala a hug.  
  
Alison gave her a hug as well. "Get your rest so you can feel better soon. We'll be back before you know it. I love you sweetheart."  
  
"I love you too Mom, Dad. Tell Ed I said Merry Christmas, ok?"  
  
"Sure thing. Bye! See you in the morning." Rafe, Alison and Livvie went in to get Ian and Eve since Dan was supposed to be with Trina and Cal. They got to Jack's house but apparently not soon enough. They arrived there to find Trina, Dan and Ed in handcuffs.  
  
"What's going on?" asked a very concerned Eve.  
  
"Folks, your children here, and I assume they are your children, are on their way to the juvenile jail for possession of drugs and underage drinking."  
  
As they put the kids in the cars, Rafe threw down his keys in anger. "Damnit!" 


	15. A very Un Merry Christmas

*Much love to my faithful readers! Nat and Melody, you two gave me a little idea for this chapter, lol. Be prepared- things are about to take a turn for the worse in the next chapter (yes I know they are already bad, but, well, you'll see)*  
  
Jack walked in to his house on Christmas around noon. His flight to Port Charles was supposed to land at around 7 am but snow delayed it. He was tired, cranky, and all he wanted to do was drink a nice big bottle of champagne and go to sleep. Trina was over but Jack figured that she would probably sleep well into the afternoon, so they would exchange presents later.  
  
"No more plane rides to see my cousins. I love them, but they are not worth standing in an airport full of stupid people for hours without food!" He went over to his liquor cabinet and opened it only to find an unfortunate surprise.  
  
"Damnit! Where the hell is my alcohol?"  
  
The thoughts of his empty liquor cabinet were put on hold when he heard his doorbell ring. He went to answer it and found Livvie in tears.  
  
"Livvie, what's wrong?"  
  
"Jack, our daughter was just arrested! Apparently she, Dan, Ed, and their new friend Cal had a party here last night."  
  
"What? Livvie, how could you let this happen! You were supposed to look after her while I was gone!"  
  
"I know Jack I'm sorry. She wanted to go out with her friends so I let her. Listen do you have any money? We need some in order to get her out of jail."  
  
"I don't know. I just got home. I'm tired, I want to go to bed, and I really am not in the mood to deal with this right now! You need to stop giving Trina so much damn freedom. You can't just hand her some money and tell her to have a good night. She's a 16 year old girl, not a cashier."  
  
"I said I was sorry."  
  
"Yeah, just remember that when some damn kids take all of YOUR alcohol. Damnit!" Jack grabbed his wallet and coat and headed out the door. "Just go home Livvie. I'll go get Trina since obviously I am the only one around here who gives a damn about what happens to her. You can call her later or something."  
  
On the other side of town, Mia secretly looked in on Rafe, Alison, Eve, and Ian and they all tried to gather money among themselves to get their children out of jail. What they didn't know was that they had a very smart angel who was going to help them all.  
  
"No need for any money to be spent. All those cops need is a little Christmas spirit, angel style."  
  
Mia got to the jail and saw a familiar looking guy about to walk to the entrance. "Cal?"  
  
Cal turned around and raised his eyebrows. "Mia, what a pleasure to see you on this fine day. Here to bail out your boyfriend, or excuse me, I mean ex- boyfriend?"  
  
"Not that it's any of your business, but yes I am here to get him out. And I suppose Trina and Dan as well, even though Trina is the last person I'd want to help. I have a question for you though. Why aren't you in jail with them?"  
  
Cal shrugged and smiled. "Lucky I guess."  
  
"Yeah, lucky my ass."  
  
Cal turned around and laughed as he mumbled to himself, "Such foul language for an angel."  
  
Mia had heard what he said, although very faintly. "Excuse me?"  
  
Cal turned back around to face her. "Oh, nothing at all. Shall we go in now?"  
  
"No I don't think so. Not until I figure something out." She walked closer to him and looked over his features. She remembered seeing a picture of one of her mother's cousins a few years ago. He was tall with jet black hair that was just above his shoulders. In the picture, he wasn't really smiling, but had this sort of evil look about him. She also remembered asking her mother who he was but she acted like it was some big secret.  
  
"You'd be better off not knowing my dear child," her mother had said. "That cousin of mine hasn't associated with our part of the family for years. He too caught up in other things."  
  
As she remembered this she looked at Cal again. He had the same features as her mother's cousin, but definitely younger. She looked closer and almost jumped back. Looking into his eyes she saw a flash of something horrible. Something evil and unthinkable. It was then that she realized that Cal wasn't a 16 year old. He was her mother's cousin in disguise!  
  
"You're not Cal Moore!" Mia exclaimed. "You're my mother's cousin, which I guess would make you my cousin as well. I've seen pictures."  
  
Cal clapped sarcastically. "Bravo! A job well done."  
  
"I'm not quite sure how you pulled this off though. You must be some kind of weird being or something."  
  
"Well you're close."  
  
"Oh don't worry, I'll figure out who you are, 'Cal Moore'. I know how to get access to my family tree."  
  
"Do whatever floats your boat sweetheart. I was just wondering though, why are you going around telling everyone that your last name is Embers when it's not?"  
  
Mia smirked. "I heard that comment you made to yourself about me using such foul language for being an angel."  
  
"So it's true then. I can sense these things. I know all the little games that they play up there."  
  
"That's why I'm telling everyone that it's Embers. It's a lot harder for them to find anything about me that way."  
  
Their conversation was interrupted by Ian, Eve, Jack, Dan, and Trina walking by.  
  
"Hey Cal, Mia," Trina said, putting on one of her best fake smiles yet.  
  
"Is Ed still in there?"  
  
"Yeah his parents haven't come by yet. Well we have to get going. Take care."  
  
Mia was about to walk straight past Cal and into the jail entrance but he stopped her.  
  
"You can run around and keep saving Ed all you want to, St. Mia," Cal said, putting an extra emphasis on the nickname he gave her. "But in the end, it will be Ed who chooses his own destiny. You may be able to save him now, but there are things that even an angel can't stop."  
  
"Well dear cousin of mine, I will make sure that Ed doesn't come anywhere near you anymore. Mark my words." 


	16. Mia Morley, guardian angel

After talking with Cal, Mia went to the entrance of the jail. She signed in with a guard, who led her back to a recreation type area that all of the temporary inmates were staying in. There were a few couches in the room, and up against the wall was a medium sized TV. The guard unlocked the door and let Mia in. She was about to get Ed's attention but something on the TV caught her attention instead: her picture.  
  
It was one of those "unsolved mysteries" type shows. It had a voiceover who was describing the events being played out. The voiceover was saying, "On August 19, 2000, in the city of Honolulu, Hawaii, 16 year old Mia Morley was locking up the bookstore that she worked in with her friend, Laura Smith, when she realized that she had lost her keys. Both girls went back in to look for the keys, only to be stopped by an intruder. The intruder knocked out Laura, and then proceeded to go after Mia.  
  
"She apparently got as far as the front of the store to throw a book out the window to set the alarm off, but the man caught up with her. She was stabbed several times in the back, which resulted in her death. Only after a medical examiner did the autopsy did they find that she was also raped, probably before the man stabbed her. We interviewed Mia's parents, Patricia and Brian Morley, as well as Laura Smith."  
  
"It's been three years, and I still have to wake up every morning with the realization that my baby girl is gone!" Mia's mother exclaimed. "And the police still have no clue as to who the killer is."  
  
"The only person who saw this man was Mia's friend Laura, and she can only give a vague description of him. I really would like to find this man so we can finally have just a little bit of peace and maybe Mia can rest in peace as well. But no matter what happens, it won't change the fact that our daughter is gone. Forever," Mia's dad said, trying to hold back from crying on TV.  
  
"All I can remember from that night is waking up in the hospital and being told that Mia had died. I cried for days because she was my best friend, and I really wished that there was someway I could have prevented it. I miss her so much." Laura lifted up her sleeve to show a friendship bracelet that she had around her wrist. "We made these for each other back in 3rd grade. This bracelet and a photo album are the only things I can remember her by. I wish the police could find this killer so he could be brought to justice. Mia deserves at least that much."  
  
The TV show then showed a drawing of a man. "A vague drawing has been done based on Laura's description from a few years ago. She described him as about 6'3" with dark brown hair and brown eyes and a tattoo on his right arm. His hair was about to his shoulders. If you have any information on the case of Mia Morley's murder, please contact your local police department, or the number at the bottom of the screen."  
  
Ed turned around at that moment to find Mia standing there with her jaw dropped open. "Oh my god, Mia. Can you explain to me what I just saw there?"  
  
"First let's get you out of jail." Ed didn't know how she did it, but somehow she convinced the police to let him out without posting bail. As they went outside, Ed grabbed Mia by the shoulders.  
  
"Before you explain anything, I need to tell you something. I'm sorry for the way I acted last night, Mia. I realize now that you were just trying to help me out. Apparently Cal isn't the kind of person that I want to be hanging around with. I hope that I didn't hurt you in any way. I love you, and I would never want to upset you."  
  
"I love you too Ed. And I know that you would never want to upset me on purpose."  
  
"So are we back together then?"  
  
"Guess so." Mia smiled as Ed hugged her and gave her a kiss.  
  
"But Mia, I'm very confused after seeing that TV show. From what I gather, it said that you lived in Hawaii, your last name is Morley, and you were killed."  
  
Mia bit her lip and sighed. Her heart started to beat faster as she decided to tell Ed the truth. "I told everyone my last name was Embers so that they couldn't find out about who I really was. It's Morley obviously. I lived in Honolulu all of the 16 years of my life with my two parents. I also told everyone my father had died so no one would find out anything. And yes, I am dead."  
  
Ed couldn't understand any of this. "If you're dead, then how are you standing in front of me right now? How can I touch you?"  
  
Mia just kind of looked away and avoided the question.  
  
"Mia, look at me! What are you? I mean I've seen TV shows where dead people come back as like, I don't know angels or something, and help out people. But that was just make believe. I mean, you can't be an angel or anything, right?" Ed laughed and looked at Mia, expecting her to be laughing too. But she just looked at him. "Mia, you can't be serious. You're an angel?"  
  
Mia nodded shyly. "That's right. Your guardian angel to be exact."  
  
Ed shook his head in disbelief. "No. There's no way this is happening."  
  
"Remember that day at the grocery store you work at when you experienced that huge gust of wind?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well..." Mia snapped her fingers and at the exact moment, a huge gust of wind took over, almost knocking Ed over.  
  
"Oh my god it's true. You are an angel. My angel." He went over to her and affectionately stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. "But wait a minute. This means you have to go back, um, back up to heaven eventually don't you?"  
  
"Yes, unfortunately."  
  
"How long do we have?"  
  
"We have a few more months, don't worry."  
  
Ed had tears in his eyes as he continued to stroke her hair. "But I don't want you to leave. I can't lose you."  
  
Mia smiled and took a hold of his hand. "Ed, please don't cry. We still have time to spend together. But just know that when I do leave, I will always be with you. Just look up if you ever want to talk and I'll be there, listening. So don't think about it, ok? We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."  
  
As they were about to kiss, they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat.  
  
"Hey Ed! Oh, yeah, hello there Mia," Trina said, barely even glancing at Mia.  
  
"Trina, what are you doing here? I'm surprised your dad let you out of the house. I know I'm in for the grounding of a lifetime when I go home."  
  
"Oh don't worry Ed I am grounded. But I told my dad I needed to get some feminine products so he let me go to the store. Anyway, did you tell Mia the good news that we're back together?" She asked, putting her arms around Ed's neck.  
  
Ed immediately stepped back. "Trina, we're just friends. And besides, Mia and I are back together now."  
  
"Well maybe you'll change your mind when I tell you my news." Trina smiled proudly. "I'm pregnant. And Ed, you're the father." 


	17. Leave it to Trina

*My faithful readers, I hope you all will still like this story after this! lol. Melody, you almost hit it right on the nose about Trina. Well, enjoy! =)*  
  
*Oh another note. For some reason question marks are not showing up. So if a sentence is followed immediately by a capital letter and seems like a run on, that's why. I hope it's just a minor error. I'm too tired to complain to the website so bear with me lol*  
  
"Pregnant?" Ed stared at Trina in disbelief. "Are you sure you aren't still snorting that crack like you were at the party? We had sex quite some time ago."  
  
Trina licked her lips and walked closer to him, shoving Mia out of the way in the process. She put her arms around his neck and gazed up at him adoringly. "I know Ed, but I've been keeping the secret from you since we broke up. I'm about 4 weeks along. Isn't it amazing though, how our love for each other made this baby living inside of me?"  
  
Ed snorted. "Yeah, whatever." He looked over at Mia, who was too stunned to say anything. "Hey, do you mind if Trina and I talk for a while? I'll come see you later. That is if my parents don't kill me," he said, laughing a little.  
  
"Sure. Love you." Mia stepped forward to give him a passionate kiss but Ed stopped it and gave her a peck instead.  
  
"Bye." Ed waved as he walked with Trina over to a bench.  
  
Mia walked away from them and felt tears forming in her eyes. Ed hadn't even said that he loved her! Leave it to Trina to ruin an almost perfect moment between them. All Mia wanted to do now was to run home and take a nice long bubble bath. She was tired and more confused than ever. Trina being pregnant? There's no way that was possible. Well then again the girl did get around quite a bit. It could be.  
  
"Damnit!" Mia cursed as a truck sped by and splashed her with the remaining slush on the ground. "Could my day get any worse?! Just answer me please!" Mia screamed towards the sky, not expecting an answer out of the other Ed at all. Apparently, however, she had spoken too soon.  
  
"Aw what's wrong St. Mia? Did that truck splash you?" Cal sneered, walking up to her.  
  
Mia glared at him with flashes of anger in her eyes. "I'll tell you what's wrong. It's people like you and Trina that ruin this world! Everything is just fine until you people interfere. I get back together with Ed, but is that enough? No. Apparently Trina has to step in with some bs story about being pregnant! Can't you people just go somewhere else? It's driving me nuts!"  
  
Cal laughed. "Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."  
  
Mia brushed off her jeans and glared at him again. "You know what? Go to hell."  
  
Cal smiled. "Been there. Done that."  
  
Mia was about to come up with another comeback, but she took a glance at Cal's teeth when he smiled. They weren't perfect or anything. No one's teeth were perfect! It was just something about a few of them. They were looking rather pointy.........  
  
"Oh my God!" Mia gasped and stepped away from him, not knowing what to do.  
  
"As much as I'd love to have the power to control the world, I have much better things to do with my time. So sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not him."  
  
Mia sighed angrily. "Don't joke around about something like that. I've met the man before, thank you very much. You know, why am I even standing here wasting my time with you? I've got better things to do."  
  
"Before you go Mia, there's something you need to know." He stepped forward and looked straight into her eyes. Before she knew it, he turned into a completely different person. Well, not exactly different. Just a little older.  
  
"So I was right. You are the man in my mother's picture. Just how old are you?"  
  
"To tell you the truth, I kind of lost count after 100."  
  
"Ok whatever. What do you want?"  
  
Cal, or whoever he was, smiled that dangerous smile that Mia found to be very scary. "Don't fight a war you can't win. I'm just warning you now before things get too complicated to handle."  
  
"I hate to burst your bubble, but I'm an angel. I have a heck of a lot more power than you, so what makes you think I can't win this?"  
  
Cal smiled again. "One wrong move, and you'll send your precious Ed straight to hell."  
  
"What? You can't just send him down there! You don't have the power to do that. And it's not right either!"  
  
"Oh I will not be sending him down there. It will be you that sends him down there for making the wrong choices. You ever hear what happened to his parents before he was born?"  
  
"No."  
  
Cal laughed and patted her mockingly on the shoulder. "Maybe it'd be in your best interest to do a little research then. Not that it will help you, but it makes for a good story."  
  
"Oh whatever! You know what, I don't care if you've already been to hell. Go back, and take Trina with you. I don't have time for this. Goodbye!" Mia walked away without a second glance at Cal. To think that she was even related to him made her sick to her stomach.  
  
Ed still couldn't believe it. Trina was pregnant! While he cared about her a lot, there was the fact that he was in love with Mia. But what would everyone at school say if he wasn't with Trina and she was pregnant? That probably wouldn't go over well with a lot of people. He had been talking with Trina for almost an hour.  
  
"So, you're really pregnant."  
  
"Of course! Here, feel." Trina guided Ed's hand to a spot on her stomach. He didn't feel anything at all, but he still decided that it was really there.  
  
"That feels great. So listen, I know we've been talking here for a while but you haven't mentioned what you are actually going to do with the baby. Are you keeping it?"  
  
"You know me better than that, Ed! I wouldn't get an abortion."  
  
Ed sighed. "No I meant to ask if you were keeping it or giving it up for adoption."  
  
Trina faked a hurt look on her face. "Ed, this is our baby you're talking about here, not some 'thing'. You don't just call your child it."  
  
"I'm sorry. Are you keeping our child?"  
  
"Yes I am. I know this sounds crazy Ed because I've only been with him or her for four weeks, but it's truly amazing. I feel like I've already grown a bond with this little one," Trina said, rubbing her stomach for extra emphasis.  
  
"Well if that's what you want, then that's what we'll do. And as soon as we're old enough, we'll get married and give our baby a family."  
  
Trina's eyes lit up. "Do you really mean that? What about Mia?"  
  
Ed sighed. "You and our baby are what's important now. I don't want my child to grow up without two loving and married parents."  
  
"Oh Ed this is going to be so exciting! I mean I know we're young and our parents will be mad, but just think of the joy on their faces when their grandson or granddaughter is born. And since you and me are both extremely gorgeous, this baby will turn out to be beautiful!"  
  
"Yeah. It will be great." Ed leaned forward and kissed Trina, almost forcing himself to do so. He was surprised, however, when he felt his lips against hers. It was as if his feelings for her had never changed. He felt all the passion and love that he used to feel with her before.  
  
After a few minutes, Ed pulled back and took a hold of her hands. "Listen, I need to go talk to Mia. You understand right?"  
  
"Oh of course. You need to tell her what's going on. I'll see you later."  
  
"Bye babe." Ed kissed her again. He still couldn't believe it. His feelings for Trina apparently never left him.  
  
As soon as he walked away, Trina sung happily to herself. Everything was going exactly as she wanted it to. Ed was back with her, and he was going to break up with Mia! Now all she had to do was hope that the night she spent with Dan caused her to become pregnant.  
  
"No need to worry," Trina said to herself. "Cal said that he'd make sure to get Mia out of the picture, and that is exactly what is happening. Everything will be perfect." 


	18. Fate and Consequences

*Much love to my faithful! My writer's block has finally gone away! For the time being anyway lol. I put a little clue in this chapter. I want to see who gets it. I won't tell you if you're right or not because that will give away the next part of my story, but hey its fun to guess right? =) Anyway hope you all enjoy!*  
  
"James!" Ed screamed, tapping his foot impatiently.  
  
"What is it Edward? I was busy brushing up on my bible knowledge."  
  
"I don't have the time for jokes. You want to tell me what that was all about down there? Since when does my grandson have feelings for Trina again? He loves Mia!"  
  
James laughed and walked over to Ed, putting his hand on his shoulder mockingly. "It's okay, don't worry. I'm sure he will be happy with Trina"  
  
"You interfered! You know very well that is against the rules."  
  
"Try again Edward. I did not interfere. Cal just simply worked a little magic."  
  
"Oh stop calling him Cal! That's not his name and you know it."  
  
James sighed and rolled his eyes. "Is this all? I really need to get back to my studies."  
  
"Well I guess if Cal can interfere, so can Mia. You have a good day now." Ed started to walk away but James stopped him.  
  
"Mia can not interfere! Cal is doing this on his own. I have no say or power in what he decides to do. If Mia interferes, there will be bad consequences. Don't say I didn't warn you."  
  
Ed gave James a strange look. "What consequences?"  
  
James smiled. "Maybe you will see. Do the names Frank and Karen ring a bell?"  
  
Ed knew exactly what he was talking about, and got very angry to say the least. "James, will you please go about your business and leave me alone!"  
  
James raised his eyebrows as he walked off. "No need to be so harsh Edward. I will be on my way now."  
  
As soon as James left, Ed called Mia up. "We need to talk about things."  
  
Mia was very impatient. "Can we do this another time Ed? I have things to take care of and think about. For some reason, your grandson is back with Trina now. I know she says she's pregnant but Ed, I don't believe her!"  
  
"Mia........." Ed said, trying to get her to stop talking. But it didn't work.  
  
"And if she is pregnant, it's certainly not Ed's. And that's another thing. How can he go from loving me one minute to completely forgetting about me and loving her the next? It just doesn't make sense! I have to stop him. I have to make him love me again. I have to........."  
  
"MIA!"  
  
"I'm sorry, did you want to say something?"  
  
Ed laughed a little in spite of himself. "Yes. First of all, you need to calm down. Second of all, you can't interfere with my grandson at all. No trying to break him and Trina up. No trying to find out the real father of Trina's baby. Nothing, do you hear me?"  
  
Mia was very confused. "Why?"  
  
"Just don't Mia. You don't want to know what will happen, trust me. Ed needs to figure out things on his own. Let him live his own life."  
  
Mia was on the verge of panicking. "But Ed you don't understand! He won't figure that stuff out on his own, because of Trina! I hate her, I really do! I know, I know, I'm an angel and all of that good stuff and I'm not supposed to hate anyone, but I can't help it. Do you see what she's doing to everyone? She won't stop!"  
  
"Mia! I don't care. Whether Ed figures this out on his own or not, there's nothing you can do about it. You can't mess with fate. If you do, it will be so bad that you will find yourself wishing that Trina had ended up with Ed."  
  
"What is the bad thing? What will happen if I mess with fate?"  
  
"Don't worry about it. Promise me you won't do anything. You can be friends with Ed and whoever else you want to be friends with. You can try to help them out whatever way you can, as a human would do, but you can't, CAN'T, mess with fate. Do I make myself clear?"  
  
Mia totally ignored his last question. "So you're saying that I can help them out, but only as a human would? I can't use my angel powers?"  
  
"Mia! I don't have all the time in the world here. I'm going to be late for a very important bi weekly meeting with Mother Theresa. You know very well that is what I said. Now again, promise me that you won't mess with fate."  
  
"Ok fine, I promise."  
  
Ed sighed as he sent Mia back down to earth. He wanted to count on her to not do anything stupid, but it was hard not to worry.  
  
The other Ed sat in his room and pondered some things. He hadn't been with Trina for months now, so he couldn't even fathom how she was pregnant with his child. He didn't want to call her a liar, but he couldn't quite figure it all out. While he still loved her, she did have quite a reputation for lying. He remembered at the Christmas Eve party when she ran off crying when he turned her down.  
  
"I wonder if she ran off and found some random guy or something," Ed thought to himself. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard his door bell ring. He went to the living room and opened the door to find Mia, looking horrible.  
  
Ed was immediately worried. "Mia, what's wrong?" They had just talked the other day about being friends and only friends, so it was a little awkward to see her again. But he knew this day would come eventually.  
  
"I just wanted to come over and say hi, make sure everything is ok with us."  
  
"Of course! We already talked about this. Friends forever right?"  
  
Mia held back tears. "Not forever."  
  
Ed sighed and gave her a little hug. "I thought we discussed that. Wasn't it you that said not to think about that? Relax."  
  
Mia just nodded and kept her head against his chest. Ed found himself stroking her hair and lovingly giving her kisses on her head. He pulled back. Where did that come from? He shouldn't be doing that. It was Trina he loved. Then, almost as if she was reading his mind, he saw Trina dash across his yard to the front door. He immediately bolted from the couch and opened the door.  
  
"What's up beautiful?"  
  
Trina had tears streaming down her face. "Ed, we need to go to the hospital. I think something is wrong with the baby!"  
  
Without a second thought about Mia, he grabbed his keys and took Trina's hand as they walked out the door. Mia got up from the couch and headed out the door. As they got into Ed's car, Trina threw back a smirking glance at Mia, which pretty much showed that she was faking anything being wrong with the baby.  
  
'Go after them,' Mia's mind screamed at her. 'Tell Ed you know it's not his child.'  
  
She was about to run after them but then she stopped when she remembered what Ed had said. No matter how much she loved him, and no matter if Ed chose to stay with Trina forever or not, there was nothing she could do about it. As tempting as it was to make Ed fall back in love with her, she couldn't mess with fate. 


	19. The Deal

*This is rare for me, getting out another chapter so soon. Gracie, I'm glad you liked my Mother Theresa sentence. Melody, I never really specified in my story but Karen and Frank are together in my story as are Ian and Eve and Kevin and Lucy. Frank isn't a vampire either. But they aren't important in this story of course. I want so bad to tell you if you're right but I can't lol. You'll find out soon enough ;) PCGirl, I hope you'll still think I'm good after the plot plays out lol. I put another clue in this chapter. Hope you all enjoy!*  
  
Mia, still angered and confused over the whole Trina and Ed situation, sat in study hall at school. She really didn't have any homework to do so she fished her headphones out of her backpack. She started to flip through the radio stations.  
  
"Hit me baby one more time........." Mia groaned at that one. She'd seen and heard enough about Britney Spears in her life and afterlife. The next one wasn't any better either.   
  
"In the arms of an angel........." That figured. That was definitely not what she needed to hear right now. The next song she came across was something she never heard before. The melody was so flowing and peaceful that she almost listened to the whole song.  
  
If I could save time in a bottle  
  
The first thing that I'd like to do  
  
Is to save every day  
  
'Til eternity passes away  
  
Just to spend them with you  
  
If I could make days last forever  
  
If words could make wishes come true  
  
I'd save every day  
  
Like a treasure and then,  
  
Again, I would spend them with you.  
  
Mia thought about the song for a minute. It was talking about saving time in a bottle, or in other words taking a piece of the past with you forever. That was definitely not something she wanted to do. Her past, although it still haunted her from time to time, was behind her and that's where she intended to keep it. Her present was a little bit to be desired, but hopefully it would all work out somehow. Although at this point she wasn't sure how, since she couldn't do anything about it.  
  
"This sucks! What the hell does Ed think I am, a miracle worker? I can't just not do anything. I'm an angel for crying out loud!" Mia threw down her headphones and looked up to realize that everyone was staring at her. She said the sentence out loud by accident.  
  
'Oh that was a good one genius,' she thought to herself. 'Now everyone will think I'm crazy.'  
  
A few people towards the back of the room started snickering and then the rest of the class joined in. Mia never felt more embarrassed before in her life. She didn't even realize it was possible to be embarrassed as an angel.  
  
"Oh my goodness she really is crazy. No wonder Ed broke up with her. Better send her to the nut house!," one of Trina's friends shouted out. As the rest of the class continued to laugh and talk about how crazy she must be, Mia noticed Dan sitting quietly on the other end of the classroom. She decided to go over and talk to him.  
  
"Hey Dan, how are you? I hope that you're not going to join the 'I hate Mia' bandwagon along with the rest of our class."  
  
Dan looked up from his trig homework and smiled. "Of course not. Don't listen to them. They're just jealous because you're more beautiful and smarter than they are."  
  
Mia blushed and smiled a little in spite of herself. "Dan, stop it. You sound just like Ed."  
  
"Well, he is my best friend, although lately I've been wondering about him. I can't believe what he did to you. I really am sorry. If you ever need to talk, I'm here."  
  
"Well thank you Dan. I just can't understand how Trina can all of a sudden be pregnant. It's like so convenient, do you know what I mean?"  
  
Dan looked down for a moment, almost afraid to look Mia in the eye. "Yeah."  
  
"Wait a minute," Mia exclaimed, trying to get Dan to look her straight in the eye, "You know something don't you?"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Although Dan knew very well what she was asking.  
  
"You know something about Trina! I know you do. I can tell these things from looking at people."  
  
Dan sighed and looked around. Too many people were around to tell her now. "Meet me at the park after school."  
  
Mia was anxious and wanted to know right away, but at least he was agreeing to tell her. She sighed and put her headphones back on. She listened to a variety of rock songs until it was finally time for school to let out. She quickly gathered her things and walked up the long street that led to the park. After a minute, she got the funny feeling that someone was following her. Turning around, she soon found out that she was right indeed.  
  
"Why, good afternoon St. Mia! How are you on this fine day?" Cal greeted her, evil lurking in his eyes.  
  
"Oh just fine. I'd be a lot better if I wasn't looking at you right now though." Mia sped up her pace and tried to lose him but it didn't work.  
  
"Aw Mia you're making me sad. And I thought we were beginning to be such good friends and all."  
  
Mia rolled her eyes. "Cut the crap. What do you want?"  
  
"I have a little proposition for you. What if I promised you that I could make Ed see that Trina is lying?"  
  
"No big deal. I could do that if I wanted to, but you know what, truth is I just don't care." It was a lie of course, but Mia couldn't tell him that she wasn't allowed to mess with fate.  
  
Cal raised his eyebrows. "I know for a fact that you care. I saw how upset you were when you found out that Ed was staying with Trina because of the baby."  
  
"Ok, so maybe I do care. But that doesn't mean that I can do anything about it. It's Ed's choice."  
  
"You might not be able to do anything about it, but I can."  
  
Mia laughed. "That's a good one! You have just as much power as I do I'm sure. What are you going to do about it?"  
  
"Pull a few tricks here and there. You know, the usual."  
  
Mia thought for a minute. It would make her so happy if she could spend the rest of her time left on earth being with Ed as a couple. But she knew with Cal there had to be some sort of catch. "What do you want in return?"  
  
Cal smiled. "You know me so well. I want to be able to take over a human's soul, so that I can be with my one true love again."  
  
Mia was confused. "What does taking over a human's soul have to do with being with the one you love?"  
  
"She's a human, and in order to be with her I have to show her that I am a human. And then maybe I can convince her to spend eternity with me living a better way."  
  
"Oh please, that's sick."  
  
Cal laughed. "Never mind that. Your job is to find me a human's soul to take over. Only you can do that, since you are the closest to being a human between the two of us."  
  
"And if I find you a worthy enough human?"  
  
"Then you and Ed can live happily ever after. Well, at least until your earth time is up."  
  
Without hesitation, Mia shook her head in agreement. "You have a deal."  
  
"Alright then. You have exactly five days, and no more, to find me a worth enough human soul to take over. If you don't find one, then I automatically get Ed's."  
  
"I'll see you in five days." Cal disappeared before her eyes.  
  
Mia walked away, humming to herself. She stopped for a moment because she couldn't quite remember who she was just talking to. "That's funny. I don't even remember who I was talking to, or what we were talking about, but I know it happened. Oh well."  
  
Cal watched her from afar, laughing to himself. He knew all about how she couldn't mess with fate, and she was very close to doing so. He was amazed at how easy it was to hypnotize an angel. "Perfect. She won't remember a thing. And then it'll hit her like a ton of bricks, and she'll try to interfere. Soon everyone in this town will find out what it's like to live in hell." 


	20. All Good Things

"I can't believe you Ed; that you would be so irresponsible to let something like this happen."  
  
Ed hung his head at the table during breakfast as he listened to his dad lecture on the importance. He had told his parents last night about Trina being pregnant, and he thought they took it rather well. This morning, however, his dad wouldn't stop lecturing and his mom kept giving him looks of disappointment.  
  
"Your mother and I thought we raised you well. Have we failed you? Are we bad parents? Because if we are, tell us now, so that we won't make the same mistake with Makala."  
  
Ed didn't even know how to answer his dad. It wasn't their fault of course. It was only his own, and he knew he was a complete failure.  
  
"Mom, dad, I'm sorry. I really don't have anything to say to justify my actions except that I just made a complete mistake. Trina and I are handling it responsibly, however, and we will take care of this child and give it all the care it needs. If you think I'm a failure, it's ok. I know I am. I've disappointed you both, I know I have. You think I'm a bad son."  
  
Alison immediately came over to Ed and gave him a hug. "Oh sweetie, is that what you think? That your dad and I think you're a bad son just because you made a few mistakes? Of course not. We love you Ed. We love you more than anything in this whole world. You're human; you're bound to make mistakes. The fact that you're taking responsibility for your actions shows that you know how to handle things in the adult world. Almost anyway."  
  
Rafe sighed. "Ed, son, you're not a disappointment to us at all. You're our pride and joy; our gift from God. It doesn't matter what you do, we'll always love you."  
  
Ed sort of smiled in response to his parents. Rafe gathered the dishes and said, "Finish your breakfast. We promised Jack that we'd meet him and Trina at the doctor's at 10 for the ultrasound and checkup."  
  
After Ed finished his cereal, he walked to his room. He heard his parents' conversation.  
  
"So how do you think Jack is taking this?" Rafe asked.  
  
Alison thought about it for a moment. "Well I'd imagine he's probably fairly upset with Trina. But you know what his excuse is every time Trina manages to get herself in trouble........."  
  
"It's Livvie's fault." They both said at the same time.  
  
"As much as Jack would like to believe that just because Livvie is her mother, that is why she is getting in trouble, it's just not true. Jack is a wonderful father. Surely he would have knocked some sense into Trina. Trina is the one who keeps doing this to herself. Remember last year when they found her doing cocaine with a bunch of college kids?"  
  
Rafe nodded. "Yeah, that was a pretty hard time for Jack. I don't know, I just wish that if Ed had to get someone pregnant, that it wasn't Trina. He doesn't need to be getting involved in her dangerous affairs."  
  
Alison shrugged. "Oh well. There's nothing we can do about it now."  
  
Ed was mad when he heard this. Couldn't anyone see that Trina was good too??!! She might have been manipulating at times, but she had a good heart. Didn't she?  
  
"Ed, let's get going or we'll be late!" Rafe yelled to Ed and interrupted his thoughts.  
  
On the way to the doctor's, Ed's mind was full of questions. Why did he all of a sudden love Trina again? He did have feelings for her before, but that changed when he realized how she really was. Then Mia came into his life. She was beautiful, caring, funny, everything he ever wanted in a girlfriend. So why wasn't he with Mia now? It was as if someone had put a spell on him or something.  
  
Ed laughed to himself over the last comment. Who would have put a spell on him, a witch or something? That was a completely ridiculous thought, and he needed to get it out of his head.  
  
At the doctor's the doctor took Trina and Ed into a room to do the ultrasound and checkup and Alison, Rafe, Jack, and Livvie came along with them. The doctor moved the instrument over Trina's stomach and a little figure appeared on the screen.  
  
"Oh my gosh! Is that my baby?" Trina asked excitedly.  
  
The doctor smiled. "Yes it is. Would you like to know the sex of the baby?"  
  
Trina looked at Ed for an answer, who shrugged to tell her that he didn't care one way or the other if they found out or not. Livvie decided to speak up. "Why don't you wait so it can be a surprise sweetie? That's the fun part."  
  
Jack shook his head. "Don't you think we've already had enough surprises, Livvie? She wouldn't be pregnant in the first place if you hadn't let her run off and do whatever she wanted all the time!"  
  
Livvie sighed deeply, very angered. "This is not my fault! I wasn't the one who got pregnant!"  
  
"Yeah, but you're the one who lets her party all the time. If you took some responsibility for your actions......"  
  
"Oh like you should talk Jack!" The two started bickering back and forth before Rafe finally broke them up.  
  
"Hey! That's enough!"  
  
"I'll leave you alone to decide," the doctor said, stepping out of the room.  
  
Rafe walked over to Livvie and Jack. "You two really don't need to argue right now. You're daughter and our son are going to have a baby. As much as we don't like it, there's no need to argue about it when we should be helping them."  
  
Jack looked out of the corner of his eye at Livvie. "Rafe's right. Livvie, I'm sorry. I know it wasn't your fault. And Trina, I'm sorry too. You don't need to have us arguing while you're going through this. I want you to know that I love you and I will fully support you and this baby."  
  
"The same goes for me too, Trina. Anything you need, you know I'll be here."  
  
Trina smiled. "Thank you daddy, I love you. I love you too mom."  
  
Alison sighed in relief. "That's better. Trina, Ed, do you two want to know the sex of the baby?"  
  
Ed shrugged again. "It doesn't matter. But I'd kind of like to know so we can start planning and buying the things we need."  
  
Trina nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I want to know."  
  
The doctor came back in. "Have you made a decision Trina?"  
  
"I want to know."  
  
"Ok." The doctor moved the instrument back over her stomach, and after a minute or two she said, "Congratulations, you have a boy in there."  
  
As Trina and Ed basked in the joy of their news, Livvie went over to Alison and Rafe.  
  
"I know we aren't exactly the best of friends and all. But during this pregnancy, do you think we could stay on civil terms? For Trina and Ed at least."  
  
Rafe and Alison nodded. "That might be a good idea. And once the baby is born, it will be around us and you and Jack a lot since we're the grandparents. We don't need to expose the baby to yelling and all of that."  
  
"Alright, I think we can handle that." Livvie went back over to Trina. "Sweetie, I hate to do this, but I have to go run some errands for my boss at work. You can stay with your dad for the rest of the day and I'll come see you later ok?"  
  
"Ok mom. Bye, love you."  
  
"Love you too." She gave her a kiss on the cheek and then walked out of the room. Walking out into the waiting room she felt kind of weird, almost like she was being watched. She shook off the feeling though and went outside. She went to fish her keys out of her purse and ran straight into someone.  
  
"I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going at all........." Livvie stopped mid-sentence when she looked into the eyes of the person who she bumped into.  
  
"Oh my god, it's you."  
  
"Surprise. Miss me sweetheart?"  
  
With tears running down her face, she ran straight into his arms. "I missed you Caleb. I missed you so much." 


	21. Eventually Must Come to an End

*That's it, I'm disowning you girls as my faithful readers! Nat is the only one who I'm not disowning because she isn't confused. LOL jk!!! Go back and read my Christmas party chapter and make note of what Trina did. Maybe her pregnancy will make more sense then. Well, actually, it doesn't matter if you do that or not because I'm putting something in this chapter about it.  
  
*Oh and another thing: you all seemed surprised that I brought Caleb back. Didn't you all get that Cal is really Caleb in disguise? Maybe I didn't give you enough clues. Well, now you know =) Anyway, enjoy*  
  
"I can't believe you're here! It seems like an eternity has passed since I last saw you," Livvie exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his neck.  
  
Caleb smiled. "I know sweetheart. I'm sorry that it's taken me a while to get back to you. But everything will be ok now, because I've found exactly what you wanted when I left the last time."  
  
Livvie's eyes lit up. "Are you serious? You're human again? Caleb, that's great!"  
  
"No Olivia, not yet. But I promise you by the end of the day I will be."  
  
She was confused. "Wait a minute. If you're not human now, how can you all of a sudden be one by the end of the day?"  
  
Caleb's mind flashed back to the day that he tricked Mia. She probably hadn't even remembered it. "Don't worry about it sweetheart. I assure you that it will happen."  
  
"Well, come to my house later when you're ready and prove it to me, ok?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
Mia finally made it to the park to meet Dan. She was very anxious because he was going to tell her what he knew about the whole Trina and Ed situation. He arrived with a paranoid look on his face.  
  
"Sorry I'm a little late. I had to run home real quick," Dan said, panting a little.  
  
"It's ok. What's wrong though? You look a little worried."  
  
Dan looked around them for a minute before answering. "I'm just afraid of someone coming by and overhearing us or something."  
  
Mia brushed it off. "Don't worry. I hardly ever see anyone pass through this part of the park. So, what do you know?"  
  
"Remember that Christmas eve party that Ed, Trina, Cal, and I went to? Well, I got pretty drunk as you probably know. So did everyone really. Anyway, Trina was trying to come onto Ed but he turned her down and she got upset. She found me, and, even though I barely remember it because I was trashed to say the least, I know we had sex."  
  
Mia's mouth hung open. She was in shock. "So you're saying that Trina's baby is yours?"  
  
Dan shook his head. "I don't know for sure or anything. But chances are that it is."  
  
Mia's heart started pounding, mostly in excitement because she could run and tell Ed. Everything would be perfect! She was about to tell Dan goodbye, but she stopped herself. She almost forgot about not messing with fate. Instead, she decided to ask Dan to tell Ed about what happened.  
  
"Dan, you have to tell Ed. You know as well as I do that Trina is no good for him."  
  
"I can't Mia. He's my best friend, and he'll be mad that I even did that. Besides, I don't even know for sure if the kid is mine or not."  
  
"He won't be mad at you. Please Dan, do it for me."  
  
"I don't know......"  
  
"Please?" Mia smiled and gave him an adorable pout face.  
  
"Oh alright. I can't resist a beautiful face like that."  
  
"Thanks Dan, you're the best!"  
  
As Dan walked away, Mia's mind was suddenly full of flashbacks from days ago. She knew it was from the day that she had been talking to someone and had suddenly forgotten who she was talking to and what they were talking about. All of a sudden, Cal's face flashed in her mind and she remembered exactly what he said. Before she even had a chance to think about that, however, she had another vision. This time it was about Ed. She saw clearly that Ed was talking to Cal.  
  
"Oh no! I have to go warn him not to listen to what he says!" Mia ran off without realizing that she would definitely be messing with fate if she did that.  
  
Ed was getting rather sick of being in doctors' offices this week. First Trina, and now his mother had to go for another ultrasound. The doctor was busy talking to Rafe and Alison, reminding Alison about things she needed to know since she was becoming a mother again. At one point the doctor asked if they would like to know the sex of the baby. Alison and Rafe both said that they would, so the doctor checked and announced that it was a girl.  
  
"You hear that Ed? You're going to have a sister," Rafe said, sounding as excited as he was when he found out about Alison being pregnant with Ed all those years ago.  
  
Alison giggled. "Isn't it funny though, that Ed's baby and his sister will be only a few months apart?"  
  
"Yeah, funny in a not so right kind of way," Rafe stated, looking at Ed to make his point.  
  
"Oh Rafe. Leave it to you to ruin a good moment."  
  
"A new sister......That's great," Ed said, not really paying attention to what was going on. He had too many mixed emotions running through his mind.  
  
"I need to stay with Trina. She's having my child," Ed thought to himself. But he didn't know if he still loved her or if he only loved her again because of the fact that she was pregnant. It seemed almost like someone or something was pulling him towards Trina, even if he didn't want to be with her. Then there was Mia. There was no doubt that he loved her, but was he still in love with her like he was before?  
  
Deciding that the hospital wasn't the best place to gather his thoughts, he got out of his chair and went over to his parents. "Mom, dad, is it ok if I go home now? I have a bad headache."  
  
"Sure, but remember that you have to pick up Makala from softball practice in an hour. Please don't forget," Rafe said, raising his eyebrows at his son and remembering the time he forgot to pick up his sister from school.  
  
"I won't. Bye." On the drive home, all Ed could think about was Mia. Her beautiful face, her sparkling eyes, her fiery red hair, her contagious laugh. The way she put everyone first, and most importantly the way she looked out for him. His own personal guardian angel. It was pointless to even try to forget about her. He was still head over heels in love with Mia. He knew that he made a mistake by getting back with Trina, and he had to fix it.  
  
As soon as he got to his house, he immediately picked up the phone and tried Mia's house. No answer. He tried her cell phone, but there was no answer either. The phone rang almost the second he hung up from calling Mia's cell phone. Thinking it was Mia, he answered, "Mia?"  
  
"No Ed, sorry to disappoint you. It's Dan."  
  
"Hey man. Not that I don't want to talk to you right now, but I really need to find Mia. I need to talk to her."  
  
"Well wait, I just saw her at the park."  
  
"Great. Thanks buddy! I'll talk to you later."  
  
"Ed, wait a second. I need to tell you something......"  
  
"No time Dan! I'll call you later." He hung up the phone and grabbed his keys. Just as he was getting in his car, he saw Cal walk up.  
  
"Damnit," Ed thought to himself. "Can't people just leave me alone?"  
  
"What's up Ed?"  
  
"Well actually, I'm about to go find Mia."  
  
"Great. I'll come with you to help." He climbed in before Ed could protest. Ed shrugged his shoulders. He didn't have time to argue with him, so he backed up his car and sped down the road.  
  
At the same time, Mia was walking towards Ed's house. She saw his car speed down the road and noticed someone in the passenger seat.  
  
"Ed! Wait! Don't go!" She ran like the road runner on Looney Tunes and caught up to the car. She jumped in front of it and screamed, "Don't go anywhere with Cal!"  
  
Suddenly Mia felt herself being thrown on the ground in a different location. Where was she? Looking around, she recognized that it was definitely Port Charles. But it was very different.  
  
"What's going on here? What just happened?" She wondered out loud to herself. Looking for a familiar face, she was happy that she saw Alison.  
  
"Alison, thank god! I thought I was having a strange dream or something. Do you know where Ed is?"  
  
Alison gave her a funny look. "I'm sorry, do I know you? And who is Ed?"  
  
"You know what, forget it. I thought you were, uh, someone else."  
  
Alison shrugged. "Whatever. Hey Jamal!" Jamal walked up to her.  
  
"Hey spunky! So are we still on for the Port Charles Grille later?"  
  
"Of course." Alison and Jamal walked away hand in hand, confusing Mia even more. She ran off looking for any more familiar faces, but since the clouds made it look like it was going to rain, everyone seemed to be inside. She saw a book shop, which gave her an idea. She went in and grabbed the Port Charles daily newspaper.  
  
"That'll be 35 cents," the cashier said.  
  
Mia fished out a five dollar bill from her pocket and threw it on the counter and shouted "Keep the change!" as she ran out of the store. What she noticed almost made her faint.  
  
The paper read: "The Port Charles Daily News, Monday, June 4, 2001."  
  
"Oh my god! What have I done?!" 


	22. Stuck in a moment

-Well, I finally did it. It was hard, but I finally put together a chapter. I hope you all didn't forget about my story. You probably have to go back and look at the last few chapters because it's been such a long time lol. Anyway hope you enjoy-

"Excuse me, are you alright Miss?"

Mia looked up from the park bench she was sitting on, tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were so filled with tears that she couldn't even make out the man's face. She quickly wiped her eyes and gave a half smile.

"Oh sure, I'll be fine. I mean, I just may have screwed up the whole history of Port Charles. Hell, the whole universe maybe. But don't worry. Everything will be ok!" Mia started sobbing again, not caring how much of a commotion she might be making. There was nothing she could do. She had interfered with fate, and now she was paying the price.

The man obviously had no idea what she was talking about, but he offered his help anyway. "Is there anything I can do? Buy you an ice cream cone, take you home?"

Mia resisted the urge to laugh. Home. If he took her home, would he ever be in for a surprise!

"No thank you sir. I appreciate it, I really do. But, my problem can't be fixed by a simple ice cream cone or a ride home."

"Ok. Well you take care now. You better run home. I'm sure your parents are worried about you."

That comment only made Mia cry more. It was a simple, but very obvious, reminder that she was a guardian angel who had failed her assignment.

"Well I really blew this one," Mia thought to herself as she walked in circles around the park. "Now, not only did I screw up Ed's life, I may have made it so he never even existed. Way to go!" She stood in the middle of a sandbox for a minute, making circles in the sand with her shoe. She looked towards the sky and pondered whether she should even risk the humiliation of asking for help from the other Ed.

"Listen, Ed, I really don't have anything to say except that I'm sorry. I'm sorry I screwed up my assignment, I'm sorry I screwed up your grandson's life, and I'm especially sorry that I probably screwed up every person's life that has walked the face of this earth. I don't expect any help from you to get out of this mess. Because, who knows if I'll even get out of it in the first place."

As she stepped out of the sandbox, she stepped onto someone's foot. And hard. She immediately went into panic mode, knowing they probably heard every word of her little conversation.

"Oh wow, I'm really sorry! I hope you don't think I'm nuts or anything. I was just talking to my"

"Grandfather? Or uncle maybe."

She looked up. The person didn't have a look of curiosity, but rather one of amusement. She looked straight into their eyes and couldn't believe what she saw.

"Ed?" Mia walked up to him, tears of joy falling down her face.

"Well geez. I would have thought that you would have been a little happier to see me."

"I'm so glad you're here. Oh you have no idea! I thought I lost you for good." She wrapped her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder.

Ed let go of her for a second so he could look into her eyes. "Hey, what are you crying for?"

Mia drew out a long sigh to try and calm herself down. Where would she even begin to tell him? What was she supposed to say?

"Well, first of all, you better sit down."

"Why?"

"Trust me, just sit down."

Ed gave her a funny look, but shrugged and sat on the bench beside her. She handed him the newspaper that she bought earlier and said, "Read it."

He did as he was told for a minute and then looked back at her with an even funnier look on his face. "Care to explain why you are having me read a newspaper that is about 17 years old?"

"Well, to make a long story short, you and I are stuck in the year 2001. That is, technically, today's paper."

Ed looked from her, then back to the newspaper, and then back to her again. His lips immediately curved up into a smile and he burst into laughter. "Oh Mia, that's a good one! You had me going for a minute there. It's not even April Fool's day."

Mia looked back at him with a straight face. "I'm sorry to say that I'm really not kidding."

"Come on Mia. I may be gullible but I'm not that stupid."

"Don't believe me? Take a look around at good old Port Charles with me. See how it's holding up."

They walked through the town, being sure not to miss a corner or street. They then passed by the old bike shop that Jack and Jamal used to own. Ed peered inside the window and saw something he couldn't quite believe.

"Hey, wait a minute. Those guys in there, they're Jack and Jamal! But they look so young. And there's Livvie. And, oh my god, it's my mother." The four of them were standing around, talking to each other and laughing. It was a sight that Ed had never seen before.

"You have got to be kidding me. I see not only my mother looking like she's about 20, but her talking to Livvie as well?"

Mia smiled, in spite of the situation at hand. "Yes. They were once friends you know."

Ed shook his head in disbelief. Mia was right. They were stuck in the past.

"So, I guess the question would be nowâ€â€how the hell did we get here? And how the hell do we get back?"

"The way we got here, is a very long story. And one, I promise you, I will tell you one day." If we make it out of here that is, Mia thought to herself.

"Why not now?"

"It's not important. And besides, we haven't got much time to waste. We need to start planning."

Ed raised his eyebrows. "Planning? But, you're the angel here. The one with the powers. Can't you just work some of your magic and get us out of here?"

"Don't you think that if I could, I would have done that by now? Do you think I'm stupid or something?" Mia asked in a rather impatient voice.

"Well no, that's not what I meant."

"Isn't it? Well I am stupid. I got us into this mess. And now I have to get us out of it. But I have no clue what I'm doing! Because your damn grandfather, bless him, won't help me in the least bit! I'm only an angel, not a miracle worker. I don't know what to do! I don't know." Mia fell to the ground, sobbing her eyes out again. She was tired of it all. Tired of the fighting, tired of being an angel, just plain tired.

"Oh Mia, sweetheart." Ed took her in his arms and rocked her back and forth. "Don't blame this on yourself. It's not like you're God or something, and you could have prevented this from happening."

"But that's just the point. I could have kept it from happening. We wouldn't be sitting here right now if I hadn't interfered like I did! In fact, I'm surprised you're even here. It's 2001 after all. You weren't even born yet. But that doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that I single handedly screwed up Port Charles, and quite possibly the whole damn universe."

"Mia, what are you even talking about? It's not your fault at all. And what's this about my grandfather?"

Mia took a few deep breaths. She had to tell him the story sooner or later. "Alright, I'll tell you. But be prepared to probably hate me for the rest of your life." She told him everything, from who Cal was to what his grandfather told her about not messing with fate and how she did it anyway.

She wiped a tear from her face and laughed bitterly. "So feel free to walk away from me now. I deserve it. Even though you really have no place to go."

Ed said nothing for a minute. Then, he put his hands on the sides of her face and said, "How can I hate you? How can I hate the girl that helped me, in every way possible? And, more importantly, how can I hate the girl I'm so madly in love with?" Mia cried again at that, but this time it was tears of joy.

"Don't you worry; we'll figure this out babe. I know it."

"You really think so?"

"I know it. For now though, I think we need to have one day of non worry. Let's go have a nice relaxing dinner. And, well, I guess find a hotel. I hope this time travel thing at least let me have my wallet."

Mia smiled a little at the last remark. At least she had someone to help her with this mess. Hopefully the two of them together could figure out a way to get everything back on track.


	23. The end

*Author's Note: Wow! I don't know why I left this story alone for almost ten years, but I did. I guess all it took was the recent nod to PC on General Hospital to get my creative juices flowing. I know I was going a different route with this story ten years ago. I remember having notes on my old computer and all. Unfortunately, when my old laptop died, the notes died with it. So, here's my attempt at the rest of the story. I'm sorry for the lame way I am resolving the big cliffhanger, but I just couldn't leave it alone. I hate cliffhangers and unresolved stories, and I can't believe I left my story like it was. So, here it is…the finale…ten years in the making, lol! I will probably write more stories, so be on the lookout for those. I'll definitely do a Mia/Ed sequel. If there are any readers still out there, this is for you. Enjoy!*

"How could I have gotten us into this mess, how?!", Mia thought as she was pacing back and forth. All it took was one small mistake, and now their lives were ruined. She had to find a way to make things right again. Ed's life, no, his EXISTENCE, depended on it. If she could just figure out what that light was…

"Mia?! Mia, thank GOD you are ok!" Mia awoke to find herself hooked up to medical equipment in the hospital. She looked over to see Ed, looking at her rather worried. It was all very confusing. She was an angel; what in the world was she doing in the hospital? More importantly, how in the world did she have a heartbeat?

"Ed, I don't have any idea what happened. The last thing I remember was telling you not to go with Cal, and then I was in some alternate universe. I thought I had changed the course of the universe. Ed, it was 2001! Can you believe it?"

"Sounds like a bad dream. But Mia, there is something…" He peeked out the door to make sure no one was within ear shot, and then leaned in close to Mia and whispered.

"You're an angel. I have no idea how, but you have a heartbeat."

Mia shrugged. "I know that better than anyone. I don't even know how to process this. Cal! Where is Cal?"

Ed sighed. "He died. He crashed the car when you ran in front of it. I was fine actually, no bruises even. It's weird though, how he died and I was left unharmed. Almost as if someone was watching out for me. I guess in his fragile human form, it was just too much for him. At least for now."

"Wait, you know? How..?"

Ed cut her off. "My parents told me. They told me everything about Caleb. They suspected Cal was Caleb all along, but they couldn't interfere. They told me how he used an alternate personality before to trick everyone. So, I don't suspect he will be dead forever. But we can only hope."

Mia couldn't believe it. All of this was so much to take in. A dream, Caleb dead, her having a heartbeat…was it too much to hope for that it was all real?

"Oh, I almost forgot. Someone wants to see you. I'll be in the waiting area." Ed leaned down, kissed her, and walked out. Almost as soon as he did that, someone else walked in. Someone that Mia never thought she'd see on earth.

"Oh my god, Ed! Or should I say, Ed Sr! What's going on?"

"Mia, my dear, so good to see you well. I know you probably have a lot of questions, and I assure you they will be all be answered soon. But in the meantime, I can answer one question I know you have. Yes Mia, you have a heartbeat. And yes, it's for a reason. I've been talking to the higher ups, and they just love you. They loved the way you did everything in your power to protect my grandson, and they loved that you never gave up. So guess what, Mia? You're getting a second chance at life."

Mia almost fainted. No, it couldn't be true. There was no way her dreams were actually coming true. She wanted this for so long…to be free to live a whole, complete life. A life with friends, a life with someone to love, a life with children….it was the stuff she used to dream about when she watched old movies. And yet here she was, a former angel, getting a second chance at life!

"You have no idea how happy I am! But Ed, why me? There are other guardian angels out there, why did they choose me?"

Ed smiled and took her hand. "Mia, you are special. No other angel could have handled this job. Why do you think I gave it to you? Believe me, we looked at the other angel files. We ran virtual tests. Everyone else failed; you passed with flying colors."

Mia squealed and hugged him. "Oh, thank you so much! Thank you! I have no idea how, or with what, but I promise you I will repay you. I promise!"

Ed laughed. "Just make my grandson happy, Mia. That will be repayment enough."

"I have so many other questions though. Caleb, what's going on with him? Is he really dead this time? And Trina, and the dream.."

Ed held up his hand. "All in good time, Mia, I promise. Somehow, someway, your questions will be answered. Just listen to your heart. You need to work on getting better. I need to go back, now. I only had enough time to give you the good news. Please stay safe, and take care of my grandson. I hope I don't see you for at least another 70 years!"

Mia smiled. "Bye Ed. Thank you, I promise I won't ever let you down."

Mia was granted another life. She couldn't wait to get started. Everything she'd ever dreamed of was happening. Just as Ed Sr. left, the other Ed came back. Her Ed, the love she could only ever hope for, was right in front of her.

"Ed, I have no idea how to tell you this. It's so much, I just don't even know where to start. But I think I'll just come out with it: I am getting a second chance at life. It's really happening."

Ed almost couldn't believe it. "Mia! But how, what happened?"

She smiled. "I think we just need to concentrate on this for now." With that, she leaned in, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him with everything she had. There would be time for questions later. Now, this was all that mattered. In this moment, love was all they needed.


End file.
